Ensuring accuracy during med pass means confirming you’re giving the right medicine to the right resident at the right time and dose. The best action is to verify the resident’s identity and cross-check the MAR with the medication label before administration. This step directly supports the five rights of medication administration and prevents mix-ups between residents, drugs, and doses. Checking dietary preferences isn’t related to the accuracy of the med order and won’t prevent medication errors. Administering a medication from memory bypasses essential safety checks and increases the risk of giving the wrong drug or dose. Asking the resident to remind you later delays treatment and can lead to missed or late doses.

Hand hygiene before handling medications is the foundational safety step. Washing your hands removes germs that could contaminate the medication, the delivery system, and the patient, and it reduces the chance of passing infections between people or surfaces. While other checks—like confirming the label or verifying the patient’s identity—are important, clean hands are essential because they prevent transferring pathogens to meds and the patient. If hands are visibly dirty, wash with soap and water; otherwise, use an alcohol-based sanitizer. Gloves may be used when appropriate, but they do not replace the need for hand hygiene before handling medications or after removing gloves.

Health-related activities are actions that directly assess or influence a resident’s health status. Billing and coding entries sit in the realm of administrative documentation and do not affect the resident’s health at the point of care. In contrast, taking vital signs provides essential data about current health status, oxygen therapy involves delivering a treatment to improve oxygenation, and blood glucose monitoring tracks metabolic control that can drive medical decisions. So, the item that is not a health-related activity is the administrative billing and coding entries.

Hyperglycemia means high blood sugar. It happens when blood glucose remains elevated, often because insulin isn’t working effectively or isn’t present in enough amount, so glucose stays in the bloodstream rather than entering body cells. Knowing this is important during medication passes because it guides actions like monitoring glucose, adjusting diabetes medications, and addressing potential dehydration or electrolyte changes. Symptoms can include increased thirst, frequent urination, fatigue, and blurred vision, though some people may not have noticeable signs. The other states describe opposite conditions—low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and very low blood sugar—and normal blood sugar is simply within the typical range.