A nurse is preparing to administer bedtime medications to a patient. She finds a filled, unlabeled syringe in the patient's room. What action is most appropriate?
Explanation
•Research shows that the incidence of errors with injectable medications is higher than with other forms of medications and that two-thirds of all medication administration errors administration involve injectable medications.
•The Joint Commission Medication Management Standard MM.4.30 requires the labeling of all medications. If a syringe is
•If a syringe is unlabeled, the content cannot be confirmed, and it is not safe to administer.
•All unlabeled medications should always be discarded and reported as an adverse event.
•The previous nurse cannot identify the syringe because it is unlabeled.
•The contents of the syringe should be investigated to find if the patient missed a dose of medication, but the syringe should be discarded. The provider should be called about the