Implications of Drug Classification Systems for Nurses
It is important that nurses have a good understanding of the way in which drugs are named, as confusion between the names could cause medication errors which could affect patient safety, as some trade names are fairly similar. For example, the trade name of the antiepileptic drug lamotrigine is Lamictal, which is similar to the drug name Lamisil (generic name terbinafine), which is a topical antifungal agent. Nurses should therefore be familiar with both generic and trade names of drugs, and check any names they are unfamiliar with. As many prescriptions are handwritten, misspellings or unclear writing could cause similar trade names to be confused. However, it should be remembered that the nurse administering the medication has a legal and ethical responsibility to ensure that the right drug is administered, therefore the nurse is responsible for querying any unfamiliar or hard to read instructions. Finally, the nurse should consider any patient-specific risks to administering any prescribed medication, such as pregnancy, and should always check if there is any doubt that this has been considered. Although it may be difficult to question a prescribing doctor’s decision owing to the historical imbalance between the professions, raising a question in a respectful and open manner should not be seen as a negative.
Conclusion
Drug classification is an important concept for nurses to be familiar with. This is so that you can understand the potential risks of any medications, and so that you can ensure that your patients have the necessary information to give informed consent for their treatment. By understanding how drugs are commonly named and classified, you should understand why it is advisable to use a drug’s generic name rather than trade names where possible, and understand how confusion between trade names may cause prescribing errors. This should help you to identify prescribing errors in your future nursing practice, which will enhance the safety of your patients and the quality of care you can offer them. Finally, you should now be aware of why controlled drugs are classified as such, and why they should be treated differently to non-controlled drugs. You should also now understand that some patient populations are at particular risk from certain classifications of drug and be confident in advising them accordingly.
References list
BNF. (2016a). 8.1 Cytotoxic Drugs. NICE. [Online]. Available at: http://www.evidence.nhs.uk/formulary/bnf/current/8-malignant-disease-and-immunosuppression/81-cytotoxic-drugs [Accessed: 20 October 2016].
