When administering medications, it is essential to pay close attention to the task at hand. This task becomes more important when administering medications to elderly people due to the different physiological and psychological changes that occur in the body. Equally important are laboratory values ​​related to administered medications, differences in medication administration to older adults, and the use of the six rights and three controls. As people age, their bodies undergo changes. One of the most common changes is decreased visual acuity (Touhy, Jett, 2012). Decreased visual acuity can lead to taking the wrong medication, which could have adverse effects on the patient. Elderly patients also experience decreased salivary and esophageal motility and a decreased ability to swallow pills (Touhy, 2012). Additionally, adipose tissue can more than double in older adults (Touhy, 2012). The accumulation of adipose tissue becomes important when administering fat-soluble drugs, as the drug can be absorbed into fat and create a toxic effect (Touhy, 2012). Finally, most older people have a slower metabolism, leading to delayed gastric emptying (Touhy, 2012). This becomes important because some medications will not reach the small intestine to be absorbed in time to cause their therapeutic effects (Touhy, 2012). There are many different reasons for performing laboratory work before administering a medication. For example, it is important to do a WBC when a bacterial infection is suspected in order to know which medication will be effective (Touhy, 2012). In addition, when administering anticoagulants such as heparin, it is important to know the prothrombin time which determines whether or not the drug is administered (Touhy, 2012). In patients with diameter... middle of paper ...... mentioned immediately after administration to avoid documentation errors (Potter, 2013). These six rights must be respected three times before a medication is administered (Potter, 2013). The first of these three checks is performed when medications are removed from the storage unit (Potter, 2013). The next check is performed when medications are removed from the container they are in, and the final check is performed at the bedside just before administration (Potter, 2013). Overall, medication administration requires a lot of responsibility and care. prevent errors from occurring. It is also important to know that medication administration to older adults may be very different due to their physiological changes. Finally, it is important to have a system like the Six Rights and Three Checks to consistently detect medication errors..