DOI: 10.1097/01.NHH.0000369773.18785.5b
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PMID: 20308814
Issn Print: 0884-741X
Publication Date: 2010/03/01
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Excerpt
Whether utilizing The Joint Commission 2010 Patient Safety Goals or implementing agency-specific goals, there is no better time than the present to review agency performance and patient outcomes related to medication management and safety given several awareness campaigns that are active during the month of March, which include the following:
The Joint Commission focuses on improvement in medication safety from a healthcare provider perspective through the lens of a clinician; for home healthcare providers' patient safety goal number eight targets the reconciliation process. The measures for 2009 included:
The National Patient Safety Foundation focuses on both the healthcare provider and the patient to encourage collaboration and partnership. During the awareness week, healthcare providers are encouraged to support activities that promote patient safety while patients are encouraged to become their own advocates for safe and effective care. Similar to The Joint Commission measures some of the suggestions to patients to improve medication safety include:
Although patient advocacy groups focus on patient safety and proper use of medications to ensure health and wellness, the Poison Prevention Week Council focuses on medications through the lens of a healthcare consumer/layperson in the home setting. Many typically associate Poison Prevention Week with Mr. Yuk and pediatric emergencies related to ingestion of household cleaning chemicals and pesticides. However, the fact is that both prescription and over-the-counter medications account for many pediatric and adult poisonings due to inappropriate storage, labeling, and use in addition to mixing multiple medications with alcohol consumption. As noted by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration:
The American Association of Poison Control Centers reports that the most common poisons for adults include:
When reviewing the categories that cause poisoning in adults it is quite illuminating to learn that four out of the six poisons are medications; this is indicative of societal beliefs and behaviors regarding the use and misuse of medications. This is where additional study and patient education are needed to identify interventions that specifically target patient beliefs and behaviors. It appears that as a result of healthcare's dependence on medication as the primary medical treatment for conditions and societal indoctrination to medication's curative effects for all emotional and physical ailments, a general sense of apathy regarding medication has occurred and society no longer has retained the protective hunter/gatherer mechanism of what constitutes a poisonous item.
This may be the result of patients and healthcare consumers becoming more accepting of medication intake as the forms and routes have become more convenient, palatable, and ingestible through the innovations of chemical processing including alternative routes of administration, reduction in pill size, and the use of additives to minimize the unpleasant taste of the medication.
