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What are the professional responsibilities of the qualified nurse in medicines management?

  • Making sure that the group of patients that they are caring for receive their medications on time. If they are not competent to administer intravenous medications, they should ask a competent nursing colleague to do so on their behalf.

  • The safe handling and administration of all medicines to patients in their care. This includes making sure that patients understand the medicines they are taking, the reason they are taking them and the likely side effects.

  • Making sure they know the names, actions, doses and side effects of all the medications used in their area of clinical practice.

  • To liaise closely with pharmacy so that their knowledge is kept up to date.