Improving medication safety for home nursing clients: A prospective observational study of a novel clinical pharmacy service-The Visiting Pharmacist (ViP) study

Abstract

Integrating pharmacists into a home nursing service identified and addressed MRPs and medication treatment authorization discrepancies, hence contributing to enhanced medication safety.

<p>Simplifying Medication Regimens for People Receiving Community-Based Home Care Services: Outcomes of a Non-Randomized Pilot and Feasibility Study</p>

“…However, this participation rate was comparable to 10-12% participation rates reported in studies of pharmacist medication management services for community-dwelling adults in Australia and the United Kingdom. 37,38 Higher recruitment rates of 31-39% have been achieved when referrals are made by a person's usual pharmacist or GP. 39,40 Process barriers to recruitment included the amount of recruitment For personal use only.…”

Provider Perspectives of Medication Complexity in Home Health Care: A Qualitative Secondary Data Analysis

“…This study provides some of the first qualitative data from home care that explain many of the medication management challenges home care providers face when working with medically complex older adults. With medication management and education part of the core HHC quality indicators, this data shed an explanatory light on many findings from quantitative research studies that have highlighted medication management issues in HHC (Caughey et al, 2019;Feldman, Bridges, & Peng, 2007;Gershon et al, 2012;Kollerup et al, 2018;Lang et al, 2015;C. Y. Lee et al, 2018;Marck et al, 2010;McDonald et al, 2016;Miner et al, 2017;Piras, Miele, Bruni, Coletta, & Zanutto, 2014;Rose, Jaehde, & Köberlein-Neu, 2018;Woerner, Espinosa, Bourne, O'Toole, & Ingersoll, 2009).…”

Integration of clinical pharmacists into a home nursing service: a case series

“…This leads to situations where community nurses sometimes work with multiple orders, in multiple formats, from multiple prescribers . Our research has found that fewer than 20% of home nursing clients have a medication chart, up to 31% have multiple medication orders used concurrently and 72.6% of medication orders contain one or more discrepancy compared with a pharmacist‐obtained medication history that was verified using multiple sources …”

“…It has also been reported that approximately 30%–50% of home nursing clients are prescribed potentially unnecessary or inappropriate medications, highlighting a need for medication review and deprescribing.…”

“…4 Our research has found that fewer than 20% of home nursing clients have a medication chart, up to 31% have multiple medication orders used concurrently and 72.6% of medication orders contain one or more discrepancy compared with a pharmacist-obtained medication history that was verified using multiple sources. 2,7 It has also been reported that approximately 30%-50% of home nursing clients are prescribed potentially unnecessary or inappropriate medications, 1,7 highlighting a need for medication review and deprescribing. This paper describes a clinical pharmacy service that was developed and piloted within a large home nursing service in Melbourne, Australia, and provides case vignettes that illustrate how home nursing clinical pharmacists can improve medication safety, patient independence and community nurse efficiency.…”