Tips to Manage Night Staff in Care Homes

Managing the night staff in your care home is important for the safe operation of the services during the night time. However, often it is assumed that since many residents will be asleep throughout the night, less staff will be needed to ensure the smooth operation of the care home. But it’s a mistake that can turn into a serious one – because for some residents the needs of the day differ from that of night. Seniors are more likely to use the washroom in the middle of the night. They may face more challenges at nigh due to medication side effects, incontinence and sleeping disorders. Walking in the dark can put seniors at the risk of injuries. It is, therefore, important that you as a care manager ensure quality care at all the time, be it day or night.

Here are some tips that will help you manage the night staff:

Make sure that the staff is trained to meet night care demands: The night care needs of the residents are often very different from their daycare needs. It is important that the night staff is well-trained to fully address the needs of the residents in person-centred ways. There will be some residents who may require increased attention throughout the night while others may need help sometimes. The night staff should be able to prioritise and adapt as per the care requirements change.

There should be a supervisor for compliance: Many care homes in the UK have a robust management presence in place during the day. However, the same cannot be said about the night. To ensure that night shift staff do not miss out on the guidance of an experienced supervisor, it’s always a good idea to have a manager or supervisor on duty at night. The presence of a supervisor will ensure better compliance.

Carry out regular audits for the night shift: Quality audits must be carried out regularly to identify areas where care workers and care homes need to improve. Use audits not just to identify poor practices but also to highlight the best practices and share them across all the care workers.

As the clinical needs of residents in care homes are increasingly becoming complex, care homes need to adopt electronic medication system like eMAR at the workplace. The software performs a host of tasks – including documenting the administration of medication, sending alerts when medicines are due and recording carer’s notes. All this eliminates the need for filling up paper-based MAR sheets. As a care home manager, you can audit daily medication activities on a real-time basis even when you are not even physically present in the care home.

Ensure work-life balance for the staff: Night shifts are very challenging and not every care worker can sustain it for a long time. Night shift workers have to fight fatigue and feelings of isolation as there are fewer people in the shift. Having a team meeting in the night can be a mood booster. Design the roster in such a way that once in a while night staff get to do day-time activities. To make night shift comfortable for your care workers, ensure that they get to take regular breaks. If you have a cafeteria for staff, make sure that it has healthy snacks available to keep the staff energised throughout the night.

Reasons You Should Shift to eMAR

If you are a care home manager on the lookout for ways to help care staff provide a more efficient service to residents, you should shift to eMAR. It is an innovative medication administration record software that is trusted by many care homes in the UK. Get in touch today to book a demo.

At many care homes in the UK, care workers are compelled to spend their precious time searching through paper-based records to determine which medications are due.

Here are our top reasons why you should switch to an electronic medication management system:

Less time spent on paperwork: Increasingly care homes are turning to eMAR to ensure improved quality, safety and effectiveness of medication management. Care home workers administer hundreds of medications daily. For each resident, they have to sift through piles of paper to ensure that the right medicine is administered to the right person. eMAR reduces that workload by eliminating the need for paperwork by providing a common electronic record that can be accessed only by all authorised staff.

High-quality person-centred care: When you implement eMAR in residential care homes and supported living environments — your staff spends less time on paperwork. With the reduction in the workload, care home workers gain more time in hand. This extra time helps the care workers offer person-centred care. They spend more time on organising recreational activities for residents and, thus, improving their overall quality of life.

Access information at the click of a button: Paper-based MAR sheets are needed to be protected and physically stored in such a way that only authorised staff can access them. eMAR helps you to maintain security and confidentiality by deciding who can access different parts of the system. You can control who can view, edit, remove and add information. This makes setting accountability easier as compared to paper MAR sheets.

Instant collaboration: eMAR removes the communication barrier between the staff, doctors and the management staff. Care workers can quickly access each other’s work and send messages to each other, building an efficient and healthy communication. For instance, if a particular medicine has been administered to a particular patient, the care staff just have to log in to the system and check rather than personally checking with the individual. The supervisor can on real-time basis access all the information needed rather than calling an individual employee. The transparent system allows for instant communication.

Eco-friendly: There is no need for storing and protecting physical copies of charts, forms, care plans, audit reports. Using eMAR, your data is completed digitally and saved on a secure server. Not only will adopting eMAR free up storage space, but it is also a way to become more environmentally friendly.

Medical compliance is ensured: eMAR also helps care homes to ensure the safe and effective management of medicines, it also gives you peace of mind that all your medicine compliance records are complete. They will give you evidence at the time of CQC inspections.

Medication Administration: Reasons Seniors Don’t Take Medicine

With rising age and failing memory, taking the right medication at the right time can be challenging for many seniors. The problem can have serious consequences as it can lead to worsening health conditions or no improvement in health.

Here we discuss some potential reasons why seniors do not take medications as prescribed:

Unable to understand instructions: Medicines can help seniors only when they are taken in the right dosage. Mixing certain medications or taking them the wrong way can have an adverse effect on seniors’ health. Often seniors don’t understand why they are taking a particular medication and how it should be taken. The best way to resolve this issue is to call the prescribing physician and make sure he or she explains it well to the seniors why a particular medication has been prescribed, how often it should be taken and in what quantity.
Negative side effects: Some medications can cause side effects like drowsiness, headache and stomach ache. This can create fear in the seniors and they altogether stop taking the medication.
Denial: Some seniors may remain in denial about their medical condition and refuse to take any medications. Caregivers must speak to them and explain how the medication can make them feel better. They can also arrange a doctor to speak to the seniors and explain the importance of taking medicines correctly and regularly.
Forgetfulness: It is common for seniors to lose track of their medications, which can be detrimental to their health. Pill organisers, consolidating medicines, setting alarms on phones, etc, are some of the ways seniors can be helped with medication management.
Assistance needed: Oral medications are not the only ones that seniors have to deal with. Many drugs are administered rectally or through the nasal passage. Seniors may need assistance with injections, eye drops, suppositories, and patches. If there no one to assist them, they might forget to take the medication.
Bad taste: Seniors may dislike how a particular medicine tastes. As a caregiver, find out if the medication can be taken with any other food or beverages. Mashing the pills with food or taking them with a glass of juice or milk can help mask the bad taste. However, do check with the doctor first before trying any of these methods.
Physical or mental challenges: Due to physical impediments, poor eyesight or hearing impairment seniors may not be able to take their medications. Seniors with learning disabilities or dementia may also find it difficult to take their medicines correctly. They may require caregiving assistance to manage their medicine.

Missing medications can have serious consequences on seniors’ health. Many care homes in the UK use eMAR, an electronic medication administration record system, to help caregivers avoid common medication mistakes like giving the wrong medication often happens due to confusing drug names), missing doses, or administering medicines through the wrong route. To know how eMAR can help you streamline medication administration, book an eMAR demo today.

Tips for Seniors Medication Management

Managing medications can be one of the most challenging tasks for caregivers. It is important for caregivers at care homes to ensure that the residents take only the medications prescribed, exactly as prescribed. They also must coordinate with doctors to minimise the risk of potentially dangerous drug interactions and complications. Having a proper medication administration system in place can help the caregivers help avoid common medication errors like administering the wrong drug, missing doses, or administering the medicine through the wrong route.

Over here we share some important tips for caregivers on managing medications for the seniors:

Make sure all the medications are stored properly: Make sure all the medicines are stored in an organised manner so that you don’t have to waste time looking for them. There are several tech-enabled devices that help you store medicines in the correct manner. All the medicines must be stored in a lockable trolley or cupboard.
Set timely reminders: Forgetting to administer medicines at the right time can affect the residents’ health. This can be resolved by having an automated alert system in place. eMAR is a fully-integrated software that will remind and alert the caregivers when medicines are due.
Ensure that the resident is being administered the right medicine and the right dosage: With paper-based MAR sheets, caregivers have to skim through piles of papers to cross-check the vital medication information each day. This can sometimes lead to confusion which can result in the caregiver administering the wrong dosage of medicine to the residents. With eMAR, you can access all the patient information with just a few clicks. This not only improves operational efficiency but also reduces the chances of wrong or missed dosage or wrong patient information.
Watch out for signs of possible drug interactions: There are certain drugs and herbal supplements that should be taken together as they could interact with each other. They could cause rashes, wheezing, diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, or seizures. Make a note of such signs and inform the doctor accordingly.

If you are spending most of your days doing paperwork and admin- related activities and looking for ways to streamline medication administration processes in your care homes, you must discuss the benefits of eMAR with your care home manager. With eMAR , care homes can automate medication management and ensure greater accuracy and safety.

4 Ways to Help a Care Home Resident Manage Chronic Pain

Living with chronic pain affects all aspects of a person’s life. From personal hygiene to sleeping issues, chronic pain can make a person’s life difficult to say the least. If you are running a care home, it is important that your caregiving staff are trained to help the elderly residents manage their pain. Over here we discuss some of the ways your care home staff can help the residents as partners in their pain management:

Watch their diet: What a resident eats can affect their efforts to manage chronic pain. Eating certain anti-inflammatory foods like spinach, kale, and collards and nuts like almonds and walnuts can help reduce inflammation. The staff must ensure that inflammation-fighting foods are part of the daily diet of those suffering from joint pain and inflammatory problems.
Keep them physically active: Depending upon the type of pain the resident has, the staff can introduce low-impact physical exercises. Simple stretching exercises, yoga, swimming and other exercises can help manage chronic pain naturally. Regular exercise keeps muscles and joints limber and strong. Also, they can create an individualised exercise programme to suit the individual needs of the residents.
Help manage stress: Stress and chronic pain are closely linked. When a person is under stress, the brain and nervous system are in an overdrive mode which causes muscles to tense up. You can address these issues by organising yoga, meditation and breathing exercises in your care home.
Help them kick bad habits: When someone is in persistent pain, it’s easy to turn to negative behaviours like smoking and overconsumption of alcohol. However, these behaviours increase pain and cause trouble in sleeping. If the residents in your care home are trying to cope with pain with negative behaviours, you can arrange counselling for them so that they look for healthier ways to manage their pain.

By automating certain processes in your care home, you can help your caregiving staff give personal attention to each and every resident. For instance, caregivers spend a lot of time in manually reviewing MAR sheets and updating medical records. With eMAR you can streamline the medication administration and bring in operational efficiency in your care home. With eMAR, your caregiving staff will no longer have to spend time on the tedious work like filling in paper-based MAR sheets manually, thus giving them time to engage in meaningful activities. Know more about the benefits of implementing eMAR in your care home.

How Care Home Managers can Ensure that Their Residents are Safe Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic?

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unique challenges for care home residents, their families and the staff that look after them. Though COVID-19 can affect anyone, the disease tends to cause more severe effects in older adults. This makes it important for care homes to ensure that there is a strong infection prevention and control programme in place to protect both the residents and caregivers. If you are a care home manager, here are a few measures you can implement at your care home to keep the residents safe amidst the COVID-19 pandemic:

Staff members must wear PPE all the time: All caregiving staff should have access to adequate PPE, including surgical masks, gloves, gowns, and face shields to reduce the likelihood of contracting the virus. Ensure that your care home has enough stock of PPEs. Staff who are unable to wear PPE should not be involved in the direct care of residents. To go a step further, ensure that care workers have PPEs when they are outside the care home – this would reduce the chances of them bringing the infection from outside to care homes.

Restrict family visits: It is a difficult decision but given the situation it is best to restrict family visits to your care homes, unless under exceptional circumstances. If there are family visits, the visitors must follow social distancing guidelines. All the visitors should undergo a thorough screening process which includes checking their temperatures. Ensure the visitors wear PPE all the time when they are in the building.

Develop a quarantine strategy: Care homes should develop a strategy that enables safe quarantine of any resident who contracts the virus. However, while under quarantine, the resident concerned should have some kind of freedom of movement.

Regular testing of staff members: As COVID-19 is often asymptomatic, regular testing of care home staff is essential. Besides checking the body temperature daily, there should be provision for regular COVID-19 testing.

Prioritise social and emotional wellbeing: While looking after the physical health of residents, make sure to prioritise their social and emotional wellbeing. Whenever possible, arrange engaging activities that can be easily organised while maintaining social distancing. Arrange video calls so that the residents can stay in touch with their family and friends who are unable to visit the care home due to the pandemic.

During these unprecedented times, it is important that your care home staff spends more time in providing person-centred care to the residents. As a care home manager, ensure that the residents are staying active physically and socially, whilst maintaining social distancing. For this, your care home staff need more time on hand. By automating the medication administration process, you can reduce your care home staff’s workload. Switch to eMAR (electronic medication administration record system) if your care home staff is still manually reviewing paper-based MAR sheets. The template of the medication administration record system is similar to that of paper-based MAR sheets, making it easier for staff members to adapt to it. All training and top-up training is included in the price as part of our services.

Recognising the Signs of Depression: Useful Insights for Caregiving Staff

Though depression is common among the elderly, it is not a common part of ageing. It is a serious disorder that needs treatment. As a caregiver, you must recognise the symptoms of depression and intervene before the condition worsens. Here are some symptoms associated with depression – recognising these symptoms help you seek medical help for the residents at your care homes:

Change in sleeping patterns: Insomnia and depression often go hand-in-hand. Many people, especially the elderly, suffering from depression experience a change in sleeping pattern. Either they sleep too much or they have trouble falling asleep. Those with insomnia are more likely to develop depression. As a caregiver, if you notice a sudden change in sleeping pattern, you must make a note of it.

Fatigue and tiredness: As a caregiving staff, if you notice that the resident concerned is always tired and can’t complete their everyday tasks, it may be a sign that he or she is depressed. It is normal for the residents to feel a bit low once in a while, but if you notice that fatigue is affecting their daily lives, then medical help must be sought.

Sudden weight gain or weight loss: Some people battling depression overeat and gain weight, using food to comfort themselves. Others lose their appetite resulting in sudden weight loss. A caregiver must consider meeting with a nutritionist to create simple and balanced meal plans for the residents so that they can break the cycle of overeating or not eating. If a resident is showing signs of depression and it’s affecting their day-today activities, a primary care doctor or a mental health professional should be consulted.

Skipping social activities: Avoiding social contact is one of the most common signs of depression. If a resident is skipping activities he or she normally enjoys, caregiving staff should pay attention to it. Social isolation can further worsen depression. Doing activities such as going for a walk, playing or listening to music can help the residents lift their moods. Moving into a care home can be a major step for some people, and it’s crucial for caregiving staff to remain vigilant for signs of depression.

Caregiving staff at care homes that have implemented eMAR, an electronic medication system, have more time on hand to give the residents the personal attention they need. By automating the medical administration process, care homes not only reduce the workload of caregiving staff but they also improve the operational efficiency. The electronic medication administration record can be used on tablets and Android smartphones. To book an eMAR demo, call us today.

How Wrong Medicines can Cause Injuries?

Medication errors are detrimental to patients’ health. They can cause mild to serious drug reactions. From the doctor who prescribes the medication to the person who administers the medication, errors can happen at any stage. For facilities like care homes or nursing homes, it is important that the managers and the staff responsible for the medication administration take all the necessary precautions to prevent medication errors. One of the ways to prevent medication errors is to use electronic MAR for medication administration. It is an electronic medication administration record system that ensures reliable medication administration in residential and supported living settings.

Over here we discuss the potential injuries that may result from wrong medicines:

1. Drug allergies: Some people are allergic to certain types of medicines. The prescribing physician should ask questions to discover any potential drug allergies from which their patients may suffer. The physician must prescribe the medicines only after ensuring that medicines will suit the patient. If as a caregiver or care home manager, you notice that a resident is experiencing rashes, wheezing, diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, or seizures, then emergency medical attention should be sought for the patient immediately.

2. Adverse drug reaction: There are many times that patients suffer because of unintended adverse drug reaction. This may happen when caregivers do not possess adequate knowledge about how one drug may interact with the other drug. By interacting with one another, these medications can be either ineffective or may cause an adverse drug reaction, some of which may seem similar to an allergic reaction. Not only prescription drugs can interact with each other but even herbal supplements can cause adverse reactions. Regular drug training workshops can help avoid this issue.

3. Wrong dosage: Many people can also suffer injuries when caregivers inadvertently give the medicine in the wrong quantity. Cutting up pills or using the wrong measuring cups can lead to such errors. Illegible handwriting or missing the doctor’s hand-written instructions can be other reasons that can lead to wrong dosage. Small dosages will not give the patient the needed benefit and overdose can cause chest pain, seizures, severe headaches, difficulty in breathing, and anxiety. In worse cases, an overdose can be fatal.

4. Wrong route: In some cases, there can be injuries when medications have been administered via a route different than the prescribed route. These incidents can result in adverse patient outcomes. For instance, confusing ear drops with eye drops can be dangerous. The prescribing doctor must ensure that the proper route of administration is clear and there is no confusion. The pharmacy must double-check before handing over the correct medication. The caregiver who is administering the medicine must double-check the MAR sheets. All this will minimise the opportunity for error and ensure that medicine is administered correctly.

How do medication errors occur?
Medication errors can happen to anyone in any place. Poor communication between doctors and pharmacy, illegible handwriting, same-sounding drug names and medical abbreviations are some of the reasons that can result in medication errors.

How to prevent medication errors?
It is important to ensure that proper medication protocol is followed at your facility. To eliminate medication errors in care homes, many care home managers are switching to eMAR. It lowers the risk of medication errors through a streamlined medication administration. With a few taps, caregivers will get all the information about the patient, medicine, dosage and other important information and, thus, eliminating room for error.

How Caregivers Can Help Prevent Falls?

As people age, their bones become brittle and may break easily. A fall can be a life-changing experience for an elderly adult as it can reduce his/her mobility. Not just that, a single fall can begin a chain reaction of more falls.

If you are a caregiver at a care home, here are some ways you can reduce fall risk:

Keep the residents active: One of the best ways to prevent falls is to ensure that the residents at your care homes are getting adequate physical activity. Regular walk, stretching exercises like tai chi and yoga can improve the balance and gait of the seniors. A physically active life improves muscle strength and flexibility and lowers the risk of falling.

Ensure that the bathroom is senior friendly: Most slip and fall accidents occur in the bathroom. To prevent accidents, provide anti-skid mats in the bathtubs and shower stalls. Install grab bars strategically; they can be installed near the toilet seat, shower stall and washbasin. You can also provide a shower seat as bathing in a seated position can prevent falls in the shower.

Modify the stairs for the residents: Make sure that the stairway is well lit so that each step is easy to spot. You can also paint each step in different colours so that the ageing eyes can separate one step from the next. Also, ensure that the stairway has railings on both sides. Keep the path clear – as carpet runners or flower pots near the stairs increase the risk of tripping.

Remove the excess items from their rooms: To create a safe living space for the seniors, remove all the unnecessary items from the room. Unnecessary items can quickly pile up, leaving the space cluttered – and thus increasing the risk of tripping. Put all the necessary items within reach, should they need something at night.

Check their shoes: As a caregiver, ensure that the residents wear shoes that fit them well and have non-slip soles. Shoes without laces are easier to wear and remove. Also, shoes with long laces can pose the risk of tripping. Loose shoes and backless slippers should be avoided. Make sure that the shoes provide comfort as well as stable support.

Leverage the power of technology to spend more time providing person-centred care

As a caregiver, you want to spend more time providing person-centred care. However, tasks like manually reviewing MAR sheets and updating medical records can take up your time. Many care homes in the UK are shifting to electronic MAR sheets (eMAR) to help their staff spend time on meaningful activities. If your care home is still using paper-based MAR sheets, here are some benefits of eMAR your care home managers need to know.

FAQs on Medication Errors

Most medication errors are preventable. Knowing about medication errors and taking preventive measures is the best way to lower these errors. We have curated frequently asked questions about medication errors and their answers to help you understand more about the problem:

Q1. What is a medication error?

Medication errors can occur due to different reasons including incomplete patient information, poor communication between caregivers and doctors and confusion because of same-sounding medications.

Q2. What are the different types of medication errors?

From the time a patient is prescribed to the time he or she is administered the drug, a medication error can occur at any stage. Here are some common medication errors:
1. Prescribing errors: This occurs when the doctor’s instructions about the dose, dosage form, quantity, route of administration, concentration are not clear.
2. Miscommunication between staff and doctors: Poor communication among the nursing staff and the doctors can also lead to medication errors. Poor handwriting, ambiguous abbreviations and confusing verbal instructions are some of the contributing factors.
3. Missed dose: The failure to administer a prescribed dose to a patient at the right time can also cause medication error. This could be because of the patient’s refusal or medicine not being in the inventory.
4. Illegible writing: Health facilities where paper-based MAR sheets are still used, face the challenge of illegible handwriting. In many healthcare settings, illegible handwriting creates confusion, making it difficult for staff to properly handle the medication administration process.

Q3. What are the consequences of medication errors?

Medication errors should be taken seriously as they can cause serious health problems. Depending on the cause and type of errors, patients can experience mild to moderate problems like allergic reactions like hives, rash, or itching, swelling, fever or wheezing. However, some patients can also suffer from serious health issues including breathing problems, kidney problems, hospitalisation and even death.

Q4. How to ensure that the right patient gets the right drug?

1.One of the best ways to reduce medication errors is to reduce human errors at different stages of the medication cycle, including prescribing, dispensing, and administering. Illegible handwriting, lack of sufficient medical history of patients, improper transcription of prescription, confusing similar drug names and poor inventory stocking are some of the problem areas that should be addressed.
2. Peer-to-peer review: To ensure proper compliance in care operations, make sure there is a thorough peer-to-peer review system in place.

Q5. How can technology help in reducing medication errors? Technology is changing the way the healthcare sector has been functioning. Earlier, the sector solely relied on manual work. However, care homes of different types in the UK are streamlining their medication administration by embracing the electronic medication system. Designed to look like conventional paper-based MAR sheets, eMAR sends real-time alerts to caregivers so that no dose is missed. It eliminates problems like illegible notes and incomplete patient information. By integrating eMAR with pharmacies, caregivers can easily restock medication inventory without any hassle.

Habits of Highly Effective Caregivers

Caregiving is more than a job. It’s a demanding vocation that requires caregivers to have certain qualities that ensure that they care for people with dignity and compassion. There are certain habits that highly effective caregivers need to develop to give their best. Here are some of them:

Multitasking: Caregiving is not limited to providing personal care and administering medicine. Caregivers have to be as productive as possible. Only efficient multitaskers can switch from one task to another, without losing track of important things.

Effective communication: Good caregivers speak slowly to make themselves understood fully. They pay attention to not only what the residents are saying but also their body language. They have to be careful while communicating with people who have a hearing impairment or those with dementia.

Proactive: Caregiving is not about reacting but all about responding. A good caregiver has a well-thought-out care plan that suits the person cared for. Instead of rushing to the tasks of the day, a good caregiver plans the day ahead and makes sure that everything is going according to the plan.

Quick thinking: Planning is indeed an integral part of caregiving. The ability to think on one’s feet is very crucial for caregivers. They should know what needs to be done if there’s a medical emergency or a resident is acting out. Good caregivers manage such situations without losing their cool.

Collaborate: To give residents more person-centred care, it is important that caregivers collaborate with family members of the person cared for. This helps caregivers understand the individual’s needs and preferences of the residents.

Time management: Managing time is not just about showing up on time; it’s also about understanding what pace suits them and the residents and scheduling the daily activities accordingly.

Self-care: Caregiving is physically, emotionally, and mentally demanding. Good caregivers take care of themselves so that they remain truly effective. They take breaks so that they do not feel burned out.

Embrace technology: Highly effective caregivers use technology to help do their job best. Many care homes in the UK are using eMAR. Good givers embrace such technologies and attend training to upskill themselves. Electronic MAR allows caregivers to manage medication administration electronically. The software can be used on tablets and Android smartphones. Care homes in the UK are embracing electronic MAR sheets to reduce medication errors. Book an eMAR demo with us today.

Rights of Medication Administration: Insights from an Electronic MAR Developer

Dosage errors, documentation errors and inefficient medical record-keeping are some of the common errors that can compromise patient well-being. Caregivers, who are primarily involved in the administration of medications, will benefit from understanding the rights of medication administration. As a leading Electronic MAR developer, we have rounded 8 Rs of medication administration:

Right patient: One of the most common medication errors in settings like care homes and nursing homes is administering medication to the wrong patient. To avoid confusion, always use more than one identifier. Caregivers can check the photo ID and ask the patient to identify himself/herself. In such cases, eMAR (Electronic MAR sheets) can help the caregivers or the nursing staff as the software provides medication records and a patient’s history for quick scanning.

Right medication: Before administering any medication, check the medication label to avoid confusion between similar drug names.

Right dose: Always check the prescription for the right dosage. You can also have more than one person to check the dose to leave no room of error. With eMAR, the nursing and the caregiving staff can rest assured that the right patient is receiving the right drug in the right dose at the right time.

Right route: The route of medication administration can vary from patient to patient. Check the prescription to verify the prescribed route. Before administering the medication, do check with the patient and verify the prescribed route for the second time.

Right time: The frequency of the prescribed medication and its timing are very crucial. Double check that you are giving the right medication at the right time of the day.

Right documentation: As a caregiver, it is your responsibility to document the medication administration processes properly. This will ensure a smooth handover to another caregiver. Sign for all the administered medication and make sure that start and end dates are clearly mentioned.

Right response: Make sure that the medication has led to the desired effect. If you notice any side effects or adverse reaction, you must record them properly. Also, have a system in place that allows residents to immediately contact a healthcare professional in case they experience side effects and other health-related changes.

Right to refuse: In most care homes, it’s important to have residents’ consent before administering medication. Residents, especially older adults and differently-abled, may at times refuse to take medication. You must record the reason and come back later to administer the medication.

Caregivers and the rights of medication administration

With eMAR you can reduce or eliminate gaps and errors in your MAR Sheets. Also, the time you spend doing audits and checking MAR sheets reduces significantly.

For proper adherence to these rights of medication administration, many care homes in the UK have already switched to electronic MAR. To book a product demo, get in touch with us today.