section_path: Scope of activities/Medication
section_name: Medication
paragraph_text: Medication
  
  Medication management and administration are common hospital nursing roles, although prescribing authority varies across jurisdictions. In many areas, RNs administer and manage medications prescribed by others. Nurses are responsible for evaluating patients throughout their care – including before and after medication administration – adjustments to medications are often made through a collaborative effort between the prescriber and the nurse. Regardless of the prescriber, nurses are legally responsible for the drugs they administer. Legal implications may accompany an error in a prescription, and the nurse may be expected to note and report the error. In the United States, nurses have the right to refuse to administer medication that they deem to be potentially harmful. Some nurses take additional training that allows them to prescribe medications within their scope of practice.