Med Card Template

What is a Med Card Template?

A Med Card is a resource designed to concisely present essential information about certain medications, helping nurses and health practitioners enhance their knowledge and practice around medicine administration. The Med Card Template provides a structure that allows users to insert relevant information, creating a comprehensive visual resource. 

The template provides the foundations for practitioners and students to customize their medication chart relevant to their learning and practice requirements. Our baseline template includes the following information:

• Generic and brand names
• Intended action
• Therapeutic uses
• Dose and frequency
• Any special instructions
• Indications or reasons for medicine use
• Contraindications or precautions 
• Side effects or complications 
• Nursing considerations 
• Any important information for patients

Effective medicine administration relies on the knowledge of nurses and health professionals to have a sound understanding of medication and therapeutic interventions. However, even the most experienced professionals may find it challenging to recall information for every drug category, as pharmacology is a broad field, and many professionals specialize in a certain area (D’Angelo, 2022). 

Nursing faculties and health professionals may find the Med Card beneficial as a reference tool. The card compacts essential information, which may be used in training or as a reference protocol in medication administration. This may elevate knowledge regarding various medications while ensuring the safety and effectiveness of client treatments. 

How does it work?

The Med Card Template provides a structure that can be customized for a certain drug, breaking down essential information into different sections. The resource can be used repeatedly by health practitioners such as nursing students or pharmacological faculty members. 

Here are some steps to guide you: 

Step 1: Obtain the template

Our Med Cart Template can be accessed here for an online copy. Alternatively, you can  download a printable version using the link below: 

Download the Printable Med Card Template

Step 2: Interpret the template

Interpret the various sections in our template, and make any adjustments or information sections to align with your knowledge or practice requirements. For example, this may involve adding a section about measuring treatment progress. Step 3: Specify the medication

Choose the medication you require more information for or are administering. 

Step 4: Obtain information

Gather the information required to fill out the template by consulting with peers, experienced professionals, supervisors, or existing theory and your notes. 

In this step, it is essential to receive your information from credible sources. This ensures that information is accurate, informing safe and effective practice.

Step 5: Fill in the template

Using the information gathered in the previous step, fill in the template. Take care to be precise, as some medications may use similar language but have different meanings.  

Step 6: Verify your template 

For those in training, asking a peer or supervisor to verify your work may be beneficial. This ensures accuracy and may avoid future medical errors. 

Step 7: Ongoing Revision 

As a nurse or health practitioner, you must continue upskilling and updating your knowledge bases. Therefore, it is highly recommended that practitioners remain proactive in their learning, continuously reviewing or updating their resources in accordance with empirical evidence surrounding medication administration. 

When would you use this template?

The Med Card Template can be applied in a variety of situations involving medication administration. Here are some instances in which this resource would be beneficial: 

Education

The template can be used to devise educational resources for certain medications. In particular, nursing faculties or student nurses may use the template to map out important information for medications that are tricky or have multiple uses. These can then be used in revision or teaching procedures. 

Patient monitoring

The template includes sections for mild, moderate, and severe side effects or reactions to medication. Healthcare professionals can use this to monitor patient health statuses and use this information to decipher if patient symptoms are a side effect or reaction to medication. This is essential for mitigating adverse health outcomes. 

Patient understanding  

Nurses may find these cards beneficial inpatient consultations, as the resource consolidates all of the essential information required for patients to understand their medications. This is essential for patient awareness of side effects and safe adherence to administration instructions. 

Treatment planning

The template outlines therapeutic uses, indications, and nursing considerations for treatment planning. Having this information accessible can help nurses and practitioners devise well-informed plans on the go, which is essential given the fast-paced conditions these professionals operate. 

What do the results mean? 

Individuals using our free Med Card Template may experience different results depending on several influencing factors. These include the individual’s foundational knowledge, medication background, and medication administration role. Here are some common experiences and what they may mean: 

• Empowerment: Access to this resource may encourage student nurses and patients to learn more about medications. This would benefit students' practices, while patients may become empowered to engage in treatments. 
• Enhanced therapeutic relations: By providing patient information, health professionals create a transparent treatment intervention that enhances the therapeutic relationship. 
• Knowledge enhancement: Upcoming health practitioners, such as student nurses, may broaden their knowledge of various medications. Given that the template is customizable, they can focus on specific medications or therapeutic uses with little experience. 
• Prescription adherence: Because the Med Card consolidates all necessary information about medication, patients are less likely to rely on their judgment to inform their dosage or frequency. This means patients are more likely to adhere to their treatment program and achieve better health outcomes. 
• Training efficiency: Different specializations may require different knowledge, making training challenging when students are placed in different departments. For example, the medications administered by maternity nurses may differ to those used by anesthesia nurses. Therefore, faculties or supervisory bodies may use the template to develop resources about medications in a certain specialization. 

• Safe and effective treatment: Nurses may find their treatments are more effective, with fewer medical errors, as their treatment plans become more informed. 

Research & evidence

Nurses are often the final oversight for prescription and drug dispensing, playing a central role in medication administration. Effective administration relies on a solid understanding of various medications and their therapeutic uses. This means that although nurses do not require medicine-related knowledge to the same extent as pharmacists, it is essential to have a foundational understanding of medications (Saqib et al., 2018). 

Although there is no evidence examining a direct relationship between Med Cards and best practices, the value of these resources can be observed in their ability to promote safety. For healthcare professionals, the card can serve as a reminder of the appropriate and inappropriate uses of a certain medication. This can help inform effective treatment plans that enhance patient health. 

Furthermore, professionals can enhance patient knowledge and adherence to treatment recommendations. The Connecticut State Department of Public Health has expressed that medical noncompliance can contribute to adverse reactions and symptoms and is often associated with morbidity. This has led to the adoption of medication cards and other patient safety strategies to promote patient awareness (Connecticut State Department of Public Health, n.d). This has been supported by evidence demonstrating increased medication knowledge when patients have a medication card, which is associated with prescription adherence (Lourens & Woodward, 1994).  

Patients and professionals can deepen their understanding of medications using the Med Card Template, which may enhance safe and effective medication administration. 

References

Connecticut State Department of Public Health (n.d.). Wallet Medication Card. Connecticut State Department of Public Health. https://portal.ct.gov/DPH/Facility-Licensing--Investigations/Health-Care-Quality/Wallet-Medication-CardD’Angelo, M., St Rose, T., Johnson, H., Owen, R., Radford, K., Taylor, L., Seibert, D. (2022). Using Drug Cards to Teach Generalized Pharmacology for APRNs, A Pilot. Nurse Educator 47(4), 94-95. https://journals.lww.com/nurseeducatoronline/citation/2022/07000/using_drug_cards_to_teach_generalized_pharmacology.28.aspxLourens, H., & Woodward, M. C. (1994). Impact of a Medication Card on Compliance in Older People. Australian Journal on Ageing, 13 (2), 72-76. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-6612.1994.tb00644.xMayo Clinic (2023). Omeprazole (Oral Route). Drugs and Supplements. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/omeprazole-oral-route/side-effects/drg-20066836?p=1NHS (2021). About omeprazole. Medicines A to Z. NHS. https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/omeprazole/about-omeprazole/#:~:text=Omeprazole%20is%20a%20type%20of,of%20acid%20the%20stomach%20makes.Saquib, A., Atif, M., Ikram, R., Riaz, F., Abubakar, M., & Scahill, S. (2018). Factors affecting patients’ knowledge about dispensed medicines: A Qualitative study of healthcare professionals and patients in Pakistan. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5983558/