Medication Administration with and without Barcode Scanning

MAR (Medication Administration Record)

The MAR shows all ordered medications and IVs. Order information is automatically transferred to the MAR from a signed Order. Medication administration is recorded in the MAR along with a record of all previous actions related to medications for that patient. 

The data that appears on the MAR is described below:

1.  Medication Order- All active orders appear in the MAR. All Medication orders, both active and discontinued, can also be seen in the Orders tab and Patient Summary.

2.  Scheduled Medication reminders appear at the appropriate times in the MAR, but only if the schedule times were entered on the Order form.

3.  Documented actions appear with initials of the user. Click the action to see the exact time and dose/rate.

4.  Previous and Next links allow you to see other administrations at earlier or later times.

Documenting medication administration

The follow steps describe how to document medication administration with and without the use of barcode scanners. If barcode scanning is to be used, your instructor will make the printed barcodes and barcode scanners available to you for scanning. The alternative method of not using a scanner is shown in brown text.

1.  You must first have the patient’s chart open for scanning to be active. Open a patient’s chart by clicking on the patient’s name in blue in your activity.

2.  Scan the patient name barcode while you have any part of the patient’s chart open. (Without scanning- Click on MAR from the left menu will also open the patient’s MAR.) This will cause the patient’s MAR page to open.

3.  Scan the medication barcode for any medication that is ordered for the patient. (Without scanning- Click in the box that corresponds to the correct medication and time. If the course is set for Barcode Warnings, a pop-up window appears warning that barcode scanning is required to identify the patient and medications. You must then select a reason for not scanning before they can continue, as described in the Barcode Warnings section below.)
   The Medication Details window opens.

4.  Enter all details of the medication administration in the appropriate fields.

• Actions- Click the dropdown arrow and select an action. If you select Hold or Refused from the list, you should type a reason in the comments.

• Time- The current date and time appears in these fields by default. Make sure you change them when necessary.

• Dose- These two fields, dose and unit, should always be filled in for a medication. Complete the fields with a number in the first field and units in the second.  Example:  2  mg

• Rate- This field is only used for IVs. Complete both fields with a number in the first field and units in the second.

• Comments- Use this text area for any further clarification needed.

• Submit- Click this button to submit the data you entered and sign off this action.

Barcode Warnings

Barcode warnings can be made active or inactive by your instructor. When active, warnings are displayed to simulate the procedures being used in medical facilities related to barcode scanning.

• If barcode warnings are not active, meds can be administered without scanning barcodes and without receiving a warning that barcodes are required. Scanning can be used or not used for patients and meds, but there is no warning if barcodes are not scanned.

• If barcode warnings are active, and if barcodes haven’t been scanned before attempting to administer a medication, you will receive warnings that barcode scanning is required to identify the patient and medications. You can still continue without scanning, but you must select a reason first for not scanning.

The barcode warning appears as a pop-up. You must select a reason from the dropdown list for not scanning barcodes and then click Submit. You can then continue without using a scanner, just as you would in the workplace if scanning was temporarily unavailable for some reason.