One of my strategies is to get to the Pyxis early in the morning and get all my meds out that I will need for the "0900 med rush". This may or may not work for you, depending on how your unit is set up. All of our pts have their own med drawers inside the locked med room, so it is perfectly kosher for me to get the meds out ahead of time (except for narcs, of course). I do my initial med/route/dose/etc. check, then put the meds in a ziplock bag inside the pt's drawer. When it's time to pass the meds, I bring in the MAR with the meds to the pt's room and go over what meds they are getting with them. If I need to draw up any IVPs, I draw it up in the med room first, and write the med&dose on the syringe.
As for meds that go with dressing changes (like polysporin for sternal wounds), I wait to give that until it's a prudent time to change the dressing. For instance, I'm not going to change it at 0800, when the pt is going to shower at 1000. Things like this, you can use your "nursing judgment" on, I think. Always best to check policies, of course .
