A medication that does not need to be given at a specific time is referred to as a ‘when required’, or PRN, medication. These will display in white on the Atlas PCS device on the residents’ medication list and will need to be actively checked by the users to ensure that they are not required by the resident as there will be no prompt for these items to be given. It is best practice to check these on every medication round.
Examples of ‘when required’ medications are:
Dressings
Creams and ointments
Suppositories
Painkillers
Cough and cold remedies
Insulin needles and other surgical items
To set a medication to ‘when required’ follow this process:
1. log into the Atlas PCS device. Select the view residents’ icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen and then select the correct resident. Click on the medication bar at the top of the screen and either press add drug, or select the relevantmedication from the residents medication list.
2. Underneath the medication name there is a ‘when required’ icon which as default is set to no. To set up the medication as "when required" select the icon to move the slider to yes.
3. Enter the correct dosage into the field and then click on schedule. From the list given, select as directed and save changes.
4. Once you have completed this screen, select next and pass the PCS to a colleague to double check that all the details are correct and to witness the medication changes then select save changes. The medication will now display in white on the residents medication list.
5. The Atlas device then needs to be synchronised.