The nurse is preparing to administer a medication from a unit-dose system. The nurse verifies that the medication, dose, and time are correct and that the expiration date was the day prior. Which action is correct?

A. Administering an expired medication is unsafe. Even if the medication appears unchanged, its potency, stability, and effectiveness may be compromised. B. There is no medication error in this scenario, as the nurse has not yet administered the drug. However, the pharmacy should be notified so that a replacement can be provided. C. The appropriate action is to return the expired medication to the pharmacy for a replacement. Medications should not be administered if they are past their expiration date, as this can affect efficacy and patient safety. D. Verifying the right patient is part of safe medication administration, but it does not address the issue of the expired medication. The correct response is to obtain a non-expired dose from the pharmacy.