The American journal of geriatric pharmacotherapy
-
Am J Geriatr Pharmacother · Oct 2008
Comparative StudyAddressing delays in medication administration for patients transferred from the hospital to the nursing home: a pilot quality improvement project.
Patients being transferred to a nursing home (NH) after an acute hospitalization are subject to adverse effects, including medication errors, related to poor coordination of care across settings. ⋯ The intervention to improve patient safety by reducing medication delays for patients making the transition from the hospital to the NH was not successfully implemented, as medication orders were not transmitted to the NH-contracted pharmacies before patients' arrival at the NH. All patients making the transition from hospital to NH experienced a >12-hour delay in medication administration, and the mean number of missed doses of medications was >3. There is a need for further exploration of the reasons for and possible solutions to delays in medication administration during the transition to the NH, as well as of the impact of such delays on patient outcomes, including adverse drug events, emergency department visits, and rehospitalizations.
-
Am J Geriatr Pharmacother · Oct 2008
Quantification and classification of errors associated with hand-repackaging of medications in long-term care facilities in Germany.
The aim of this study was to quantify and classify errors associated with the repackaging of residents' medications in long-term care facilities in Germany. ⋯ Among 48,512 medications inspected over 8 weeks in 3 German long-term care facilities, the rate of repackaging errors was 1.3%, involving 7.3% of daily pill organizers and the medications of 53.00% of residents. The largest proportion of errors involved incorrect halving of tablets.