Medication Dosing and Administration

This unit develops essential skills for safe medication use, including interpreting medication labels, documenting and dispensing medications, and performing dose calculations for oral and parenteral routes. Students build on foundational math and pharmacology concepts and prepare to apply calculation and administration skills in supervised clinical settings.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze medication labels and patient identifiers to verify the five rights of medication administration and detect potential safety concerns such as allergies, interactions, and contraindications.
• Demonstrate accurate medical documentation and dispensation procedures using approved abbreviations, legal/ethical standards, and facility protocols for recording dosage, route, time, and patient response.
• Apply established calculation methods (ratio-proportion, dimensional analysis, and formula) to compute correct dosages for tablets, capsules, liquids, and injectable solutions, achieving accurate results within clinical tolerances.
• Evaluate and perform safe preparation and administration techniques for oral and parenteral medications—including dose conversions, reconstitution, syringe selection, and infection-control practices—and determine when to consult or escalate to a licensed provider.