Medication Monitoring

Administering the correct dose is only one part of medication safety. The RN establishes why the medication is needed, what must be true before it is given, which therapeutic response is expected, which adverse effects are predictable, and which findings require holding a dose or urgent escalation. Monitoring is individualized to organ function, age, concurrent therapies, timing, route, and clinical change. A normal result yesterday does not make today's dose safe when the patient's physiology has changed.