Question

Define "tall man" lettering, what is the purpose?

What are two nursing assessments a nurse should provide for herbal/natural medications?

List two nursing considerations for over-the-counter drugs.

Answer 1

DEFINITION :-Tall Man lettering uses a combination of lower and upper case letters to highlight the differences between look-alike medicine names, like fluOXETine and fluVOXAMine, helping to make them more easily distinguishable. The purpose of Tall Man lettering is to reduce the likelihood of errors due to medicine mis-selection.

PURPOSE :-

The purpose of Tall Man lettering is to help health professionals select or supply the right medicine. Tall Man lettering serves as a warning about the risk of confusing a particular medicine name based on the orthography of the medicine name.
The small amount of published literature available shows that, at the minimum, Tall Man lettering will or should alert clinicians’ to medicines that are at risk of name confusion and possible medication error without increasing the risk of errors
The Commission supports the use of Tall Man lettering as one of several ways to reduce the risk of getting medicine names confused. Other interventions like barcode verification and premarket assessment processes also contribute to risk reduction.

NURSING ASSESSMENT FOR PROVIDING HERBAL/NATURAL MEDICATION

1. engage in safe medication practices, and contribute to a culture of safety, Know the limits of own knowledge, skill and judgment, and seek help, assess the appropriateness of the medication practice by considering the patient, the medication, and the environment

2. patient drug allergies, the expected actions, dose range, side effects of the medication, and any precautions to be taken, the developmental stage of the infant/child/adolescent patient, any alterations in the patient's condition or functional status which interferes with their physical capacity to take medications (for instance not being able to swallow oral medications).

NURSING CONSIDERATIONS FOR OVER-THE-COUNTER DRUGS

1. Over-the-counter (OTC) medications do not require a prescription and nurses may recommend or administer them to a patient. If you decide to recommend an OTC medication, you are accountable for the recommendation and for any outcomes of that recommendation.

2. Although OTCs usually do not require a prescription, some legislation requires an order. For example, in long-term care homes, medication administered to residents must be ordered by an authorized prescriber. In the near future, RNs who complete education approved by CNO’s Council will be authorized to prescribe certain medications, including OTCs.