You should systematically work through the six rights and discuss what strategies you would employ to ensure you administer the right dose.

You should systematically work through the six rights and discuss what strategies you would employ to ensure you administer the right dose.

You are a new graduate nurse on your first rotation working in a general medical ward on a night shift. It is 0400hrs and you receive a new admission from the Emergency Department. Mrs Shirley Button is a 38 year old woman who presented with severe back pain after a fall at home. She has had a CT scan that has excluded any significant injury. She is admitted for pain management. Mrs. Button is complaining of back pain and requesting pain relief medication. You undertake a pain score assessment and Mrs. Button states her pain is 9/10. Her vital signs are: T-36.7°C HR-98bpm, BP- 149/74mmHg, RR-18, SpO2-99%. Mrs. Button has been charted I.V.2.5mg to 5mg Morphine 4th hourly PRN.

You go to the medication preparation room with the Endorsed Enrolled Nurse (EEN) to prepare the morphine injection. You open the DD cupboard to locate the morphine. You ask the ENN to complete the DD book whilst you prepare the morphine injection. You decide since Mrs. Button has rated her pain at 9/10 that you will administer I.V. 5mg Morphine. You undertake the first two medication checks with the EEN and the third check at the bed side before administering the Morphine.

An hour later when doing your patient round you observe that Mrs. Button is breathing very shallow and slowly and is difficult to rouse. You immediately take her vital signs and her BP is 89/50mmHg, HR-52bpm, RR-9bpm, SpO2-94%. You immediately call for the senior registered nurse and MET team.