Nitroglycerin assignment

Here are some of the outcome indicators (goals) listed for the NOC Knowledge: Medication in Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC), third edition, by Sue Moorhead, Marion Johnson and Meridean Maas:

• Identification of correct name of medication
  
• Description of appearance of medication
  
• Description of actions of medication
  
• Description of side effects of medication
  
• Description of precautions for medication
  
• Description of use of memory aids
  
• Description of potential adverse reactions when taking medication
  
• Description of correct administration of medication
  
• Description of self-monitoring techniques
  
• Description of proper storage of medication
  
• Description of proper administration of medication
  
• Description of how to obtain the medication
  
• Description of proper disposal of unused medication
  
• Description of any needed laboratory tests

Specifically with Nitro, I would make sure that the patient understands and knows the potential side effects that can occur when taking this drug (headache, light-headedness) and what to do for them, the correct place to put the tablet in his/her mouth, what to do if the chest pain is not relieved after three tablets, that the drug can be taken before stressful activity and to make position changes slowly because of the likelihood of fainting.

Now, if I turn some of those into teaching objectives, it looks to me that they pretty much cover

• Right time
  
• Right route
  
• Right dose

I would just turn that into nicely written statements of patient centered objectives. That's just my opinion.