The “rights” of drug administration include the right patient, the right medication, the right time, the right way, and the right dose. These rights are crucial for nurses. A survey of discharged patients found that about 20% were concerned about an error in their medications and 15% feared being harmed by errors made by nurses, compared to 10% who were concerned about errors made by physicians.41 However, the complexity of the medication process led to the formulation of nurses` rights in the area of medication administration. Essential environmental conditions for safe medication practice include (a) the right to complete written instructions clearly indicating the drug, dose, route and frequency; (b) the right to have the correct route and dose of medicinal products dispensed in pharmacies; (c) the right of access to information on medicinal products; (d) The right to a safe drug administration policy; (e) The right to administer medicines safely and to identify problems with the system; and (f) the right to encourage, reflect and be vigilant when administering medicines.42 Procedures for administering medicines in various ways are briefly described below. Note that the verification of the order, its relevance to the customer, the identification of the customer with at least two unique identifiers and the explanation of the drug and the administration procedure are carried out BEFORE a drug is administered to a customer. The thought process can also be distorted by distractions and interruptions. One study used direct observation of drug administration to determine the effects of human factors on SAEs.24 Researchers found that slippages and memory lapses were associated with 46.7% of MAEs. In prescribing and administering medications, the causes of errors were slips and memory lapses (23.1% during prescription vs. 46.7% during administration), lack of medication knowledge (46.2% during prescription vs. 13.3% during administration) and rule violations (30.8% during prescription versus 13.3% during administration). Another study that used direct observation found causes related to SAEs such as slips and memory lapses (40%), rule violations (26%), infusion pump problems (12%), and a lack of medication knowledge (10%).45 Customers at home should also be informed about the proper and safe disposal of unused and expired medications to prevent use by others and protect the environment.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regularly holds National Prescription Drug Take-Back Days for the disposal of prescription drugs, some local law enforcement agencies may have a local take-back program, and some local health authorities and pharmacies may also take back unwanted drugs. If these resources are not available in the community, the home care client should be asked to hire their local waste department to determine how these drugs should be disposed of. The client must be informed about the safe and correct method of self-administration of medications. In addition to the training described above, some clients may also need to learn special procedures such as proper use of an inhaler, taking insulin, mixing insulins, intramuscular injection, or self-administering a tube feeding. The systems approach to security emphasizes the human state of fallibility and anticipates that mistakes will occur, even in the best organizations where the best people work there. This approach focuses on identifying predisposing factors in the work environment or systems that lead to errors.53 The Reason53 model of the cause of the accident describes three conditions that require error: According to the Institute of Medicine`s Preventing Medication Errors report, more than 40% of medication errors are the result of a lack of communication related to the client`s medications; These errors can be avoided by completing the medication reconciliation process for all clients, particularly clients who have just been admitted, transferred or released to another health care facility or facility.