Ohio Nursing Home Administrator Practice Exam

What should containers too small to bear a complete prescription label be labeled with?

1. Resident's diagnosis

2. Prescription expiration date

3. Prescription number and the name of the resident

4. Resident's room number

The correct answer is: Prescription number and the name of the resident

The correct choice is to label containers that are too small to bear a complete prescription label with the prescription number and the name of the resident. This ensures that there is essential identifying information on the container, which is crucial for maintaining medication safety and preventing errors. The prescription number provides a direct reference to the medication's full details in the pharmacy's records, while the resident's name ensures that the medication can be easily matched to the correct individual, promoting safe administration practices within a nursing home environment. Having this information is vital for healthcare staff to quickly identify which resident the medication belongs to, especially in facilities with multiple residents receiving numerous medications. The other options, while important in their own contexts, do not provide the critical identifiers needed for a small container. For example, the resident's diagnosis and room number are useful for general organizational purposes, but they do not directly indicate which specific medication is being administered. The prescription expiration date, while important for ensuring the medication is still safe to use, does not aid in identifying the resident or linking the medication to their specific treatment plan. Therefore, ensuring that both the prescription number and the resident's name are present on the smaller containers fulfills safety and legal requirements in medication management.