[Nursing responsibility in the administration of medications: some thoughts about a safe practice with care quality]

A nursing role that is worthy of reflection is the administration of medications, as it involves legal and ethical aspects of impact on professional practice. Errors in the administration of medications point out the responsibility of the nursing category. An adequate performance of this role enables the prevention of real errors. The purpose of this study was to analyze nursing responsibilities in the administration of medications through a bibliographical research in the Medline and Lilacs data bases (1997/1999). Results showed the lack of published works on this theme and, therefore, the need for reflections on nursing professionals participation in the administration of medications, especially concerning publications.