Browsing by Subject "drug event"

Between 5% and 57% of patients experience an adverse drug event during their hospitalization. Reducing medication errors can help prevent adverse drug events. A particular risk for medication errors arises when a patient moves between home and care centers if accurate medication information is not transferred with the patient. Medication reconciliation is a process to ensure accurate and comprehensive medication information across transitions of care. The aim of the study was to find out how many and what kind of discrepancies can be detected by performing medication reconciliation in a primary care unit. In addition, pharmacists and nurses experiences of the medication reconciliation process and the medication reconciliation form were examined. Both quantitative and qualitative data were used in the study. Quantitative study data consisted of all Medication reconciliation forms (PASQ) completed in January-June 2014. Data were analyzed using quantitative descriptive methods. The qualitative research material consisted of six individual interviews conducted in June 2014. The material was subjected to inductive thematic content analysis. Patients (n = 117) had a mean age of 81 years and almost all (n = 105) had at least six regularly used medications after medications were reconciled. Almost every patient (n = 115, 98.3%) had at least one discrepancy in their medication compared to the patient information system. On average, patients had seven discrepancies in their medication lists. The most discrepancies were associated with psycholeptics (9.5% of all discrepncies). The most common types of discrepancies were new drug (45.4% of all discrepancies) and discontinued drug (19.6%). Nurses and pharmacists saw the medication reconciliation process as an important part of successful patient care. Challenges associated with reconciling medications were caused by lack of time, the fragmentation of information systems and the health status of patients (information given by patients could not be trusted). Only one-third of the patients were interviewed, although international publications on medication reconciliation strongly emphasize patient involvement. The results of this study are in line with previous research and confirm the view that medication reconciliation should always be done across all transitions in care. The role of the patient as part of the medication reconciliation process should be further emphasized in the future, as only interviewing the patient can provide a true picture of the patient's medication.