Ophthalmic Medication Administration
Key Points
- Ophthalmic medications are instilled into the eye to treat local ocular conditions.
- Safe delivery requires correct patient/eye verification and strict tip-contamination prevention.
- Eye drops are instilled before eye ointment when both forms are ordered.
Equipment
- Ordered ophthalmic medication(s): eye drops and/or eye ointment
- Sterile saline or sterile water and tissues
- Gloves when indicated by policy and patient condition
- MAR and documentation access
Procedure Steps
- Verify patient identity, correct medication, correct dose, and correct eye.
- Perform hand hygiene and prepare required supplies.
- Position patient with head tilted back and gaze upward (or lie down if unable to sit upright).
- Gently pull lower eyelid downward to create conjunctival sac.
- Hold dropper above eye and instill prescribed drops into conjunctival sac.
- Avoid touching bottle tip to eye, eyelid, lashes, or skin.
- Instruct patient to close eyes gently and apply pressure to inner canthus for 1-2 minutes.
- For ointment, apply a thin ribbon inside lower lid from inner to outer corner without tube-eye contact.
- If both forms are ordered, instill eye drops first, then apply ointment.
- Instruct patient to keep eyes closed briefly and blink gently for distribution.
- Document administration details and patient response.
Common Errors
- Touching bottle/tube tip to ocular surfaces → contamination and infection risk.
- Instilling ointment before drops → reduced drop absorption.
- Omitting inner-canthus pressure after drops → higher systemic absorption risk.
- Incomplete eye-side verification → wrong-eye medication error.
Related
- oral-medication-administration-safety - Shared medication-rights and documentation standards across routes.
- intravenous-medication-administration-safety - Reinforces route-specific safety checks within the broader medication process.