Question

The student nurse sees it's time to give meds to a pt, but pt is currently in radiology. Student is aware there's a 30-min time window to admin meds, otherwise it will be considered late. What should the student nurse do?

a) document med was given at correct time and give it as soon as pt returns
b) call pharmacy and inquire a delay in admin med or hold until next dose is harmful to pt
c) document pt is in radiology, advice charge nurse, admin meds when pt returns to unit
d) hold meds and fill out an incident report that explains circumstances and details of why the meds were not administered.

Answer 1

A student nurse should document that a patient is in radiology, notify the charge nurse, and administer the medication when the patient returns, ensuring adherence to nursing standards and patient safety.

Step-by-step explanation:

The appropriate action for a student nurse when a patient is away for radiology during medication administration time would be to document that the patient is in radiology, inform the charge nurse, and administer the medication once the patient returns to the unit. This ensures patient safety and adherence to professional nursing standards. It would not be appropriate to document that the medication was given when it was not, nor would typically an incident report be required for a medication timing adjustment related to diagnostic testing. Communicating with the pharmacy might be necessary if there's concern about the timing or the nature of the medication, but this is not always the first step.