Abstract
This paper describes nursing activities that preceded medication administration during a study of a mobile medication dosage decision-support device used in neonatal and pediatric intensive care settings. These antecedents served as cues to inform researchers that medication administration activities were about to take place so that focused ethnographic observations could be conducted. Cues included visits to the medication room, conversation with another nurse, charting, conversation with physicians, visits to a patient’s room, preparation for feeding, conversation with family members, visits from the pharmacy, checking a patient’s vitals, and phone conversations. Results will help researchers conduct focused ethnographic observations of medication administration activities more efficiently by decreasing the amount of time spent on holistic observations.