There are many factors that contribute to medication errors resulting in consequences to both patient and nurse. Factors that can contribute to errors include illegible handwritten drug orders, confusing drug names, and the use of nonstandard or unclear abbreviations (Neal, 2006). For the patient, the effect of drug errors can range from no side effects to death. For the nurse who commits a medication error the consequences can range from additional training and supervision to lawsuits and revocation of licensure. Medication errors can occur at any stage in the process of delivering medications to patients, from the originating prescriber to the pharmacy, but the majority of medication errors occur during administration.
A widely known challenge chronic in healthcare is the readmission of a large percentage of patients who do not follow their medication regimen. The readmission is normally caused due to poor adherence to non-adherence. For the purpose of this week’s discussion this post will cover the definition of quality improvement (QI). QI is defined as the use of data to monitor the outcomes of care processes, improvement methods to design and test changes to continuously improve the quality and safety of health care systems (Hinkle, Cheever, & Kerry, 2014).
Medication adherence is the concept of complying with a prescribed medication without deviation. Working on an inpatient floor with chronically ill children who take multiple medications on a daily basis is very challenging. Access to resources, education on medications, motivation to comply with medication regimens, and the capability of patients and families to obtain the prescribed medications are all factors that can affect adherence. Justice and beneficence are two other factors that can play a role in medication adherence. The focus of this paper will be on medication adherence in chronic patient populations. The Theory of Planned Behavior will be used as the basis of the framework for this paper.
The Department of Health and Human Services launched Healthy People 2020 to promote quality of life and healthy development across all life ages (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). As a healthcare professional working at retail sector, one of the pharmacist duties is to improve medication adherence that promote better quality of life for all groups. One of the biggest challenges for healthcare professional is improve medication adherence after the initial discharged of the patient to prevent hospital readmission. According to a study by the New England Healthcare Institute (NEHI), nearly one in five patients discharged from the hospital is readmitted within 30 days and resulted in an estimated total cost of readmissions
I have chosen the research topic of medication non-compliance, specifically regarding high blood pressure medication. I see patients very often at my job who do not take their medication because they say they feel fine or they forgot. I do teach my patients that they need to take their medication every day and suggest to take it at the same time as something they already do daily such as eating breakfast but my words seem to fall on deaf ears. Some patients don’t like the way the medication makes them feel so they just stop taking it instead of going back to their doctor. I believe that more visual aids in teaching such as videos that show what is happening inside your body when your pressure is high in addition to meeting stroke patients
The provision of written medication information given to the patient helps significantly in cases of medication non compliance (McGraw & Drennan 2004). This is because it aids in memory retention and presents patients with access to a reliable source of concise medication information, particularly if the patient needs to be reminded of certain aspects (Gorgos 2006). These written medication information sheets need to be provided in the patients primary, dominant language because it reduces the difficulty and limits barriers to patient understanding (Gorgos 2006).This is important because this intervention aims to increase a patient’s understanding of their medications, and when a patient feels more competent with the use of their medications, reduced
Many patients are finding it more difficult to afford their prescription medications. Comparing health care expenditures in the United States, prescription drug costs rank third compared to hospital expenses and physician services (Omojasola, Hernandez, Sansgiry, & Jones, 2012, p. 479). The rising cost of prescription drugs is concerning to many patients. “The high out-of-pocket prescription drug cost is associated with medication non-adherence and adverse health outcomes” Omojasola, et al., 2012, p. 480).
Using longitudinal Medicare administrative data, we examined the association between medication nonadherence and high inpatient stays and ED visits in a cohort of Medicare super-utilizers with MCC. Additionally, we also evaluated other risk factors including mental illness and opioid medication use associated with high inpatient and ED utilization in this high-risk
Use special procedure for the use of high-risk medications using a multi-disciplinary approach, including written guidelines, checklists, pre-printed orders, double-checks, special packaging, special labeling, and education. (Institute of Medicine (IoM) Strategies Regarding Medication Practices, 2005).
Counselor met with Pt. for an individual session. Counselor and Pt. discussed her progress in treatment and description of her medication compliance. Pt. reported wanting a higher dosage of methadone to side effects (cold). Pt. mentioned that she would like to switch to Vivitrol medication because she is going to move with her mother house in Lewes, DE and she cant come to the clinic everyday. Pt. requested, discussed and completed an AMS Modality Switch form. Counselor encouraged Pt. to talk about her current triggers and possible solutions she can plan ahead of time. Pt. stated, "I have no triggers." Counselor elicited the client’s perceptions on her several positive urine analysis. Pt. indicated that she use crack cocaine when she is depressed.
Mental illnesses generally require some form of medication (Schmidt & Monaghan, 2012). Although mediation by itself is not sufficient in treating the mentally ill, it provides the groundwork with which other therapies can build on. The primary goal of medication compliance and management is the stabilization of symptom which allows the affected individual to begin participating in life again. It is important that the patient as well as the family and caregivers have knowledge about all of the medications the individual is taking in addition to its side effects, purpose, and any possible allergic reactions that might occur. Those family members and caretakers that are well-informed about medications are much better equipped
In order to evaluate and compare medication compliance the patient’s discharge medication reconciliation were compared to patient’s medication list at time of first office visit. Of the patients in population 1 (N=82), 71 were seen back for follow up and 11 never returned. Of the 71 that returned for follow up 97.18% (N=69) were compliant with discharged core measure medications. Population 2 (N=104), 97 were seen back for follow up with 7 never returned. Of the 97 seen back for office follow up 100% (N=97) were compliant with discharged core measure medications. Statistical analysis of the two population did not find a statistically significant difference (p= 0.0991).
Nurses are responsible for multiple patients on any given day making medication errors a potential problem in the nursing field. Medication administration not only encompasses passing medication to the patients yet begins with the physician prescribing the medication, pharmacy filling the correct prescription and ending with the nurse administering and monitoring the patient for any adverse effect from the medication. According to the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCCMERP), ‘A medication error refers to any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the healthcare professional,
medication to the wrong patient is personal neglect and this heinous mistake should be followed
The reporting party (RP) stated she was recently terminated due to leaving residents alone in the facility and discussing missing narcotic medications. The RP stated on at least two occasion residents' medication became missing. According to the RP a female resident (name unknown) who passed away shortly before Thanksgiving was missing her "Norco." Additional a resident named Richard was missing his evening dose of "Lorazepam." Subsequently the RP discussed the missing medications with the Nurse and Executive Director; however, the missing medications were not reported to CCL. The RP stated that the medication staff are not properly trained in assisting residents with their medications. According to the RP many prescription medications have