Posts Tagged ‘medication’
PharMEDium Participates In Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation Summit: Medication Safety In The Operating Room; Time For A New Paradigm
PharMEDium Services, LLC, announced their participation in the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) Summit held January 26th in Phoenix, AZ. PharMEDium’s commitment to patient safety aligned with the APSF goals of improving medication safety by offering a complete line of pre-filled, pre-labeled Anesthesia syringe medications intended for use in the Operating Room…
An interprofessional approach to improving paediatric medication safety
Background:
Safe drug prescribing and administration are essential elements within undergraduate healthcare curricula, but medication errors, especially in paediatric practice, continue to cause concern.
Methods:
An interprofessional workshop to facilitate learning of knowledge, core competencies, communication and team working skills in paediatric drug prescribing and administration was developed and evaluated. The practical, ward-based workshop was delivered to 4th year medical and 3rd year nursing students and evaluated using a pre and post workshop questionnaire with open-ended response questions.
Results:
Following the workshop, students reported an increase in their knowledge and awareness of paediatric medication safety and the causes of medication errors (p<0.001), with the greatest increase noted among medical students. Highly significant changes in students' attitudes to shared learning were observed, indicating that safe medication practice is learnt more effectively with students from other healthcare disciplines. Qualitative data revealed that students' participation in the workshop improved communication and teamworking skills, and led to greater awareness of the role of other healthcare professionals.
Conclusion:
This study has helped bridge the knowledge-skills gap, demonstrating how an interprofessional approach to drug prescribing and administration has the potential to improve quality and safety within healthcare.
FDA Study Finds Consumer Medication Information Not Consistently Useful
Monday Morning Medication Safety Tip
Each week, Dr. Mike shares information on how to take your medications safely.
Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a study that found that the printed consumer medication information provided with new prescriptions by retail pharmacies does not consistently provide easy-to-read, understandable information about the use and safety of medications.
The FDA-sponsored study, Expert and Consumer Evaluation of Consumer Medication Information, was carried out using shoppers who were trained to simulate patients. These shoppers visited drugstores around the U.S. and gave the pharmacists prescriptions for two commonly prescribed generic medications ? metformin (commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes) and lisinopril (commonly used to treat high blood pressure). The shoppers collected the consumer medication leaflets provided with their prescriptions. Medical experts and consumers evaluated the quantity and quality of this information.
In 1996, Congress called for 95 percent of all new prescriptions to be accompanied by useful consumer medical information by 2006. The FDA study showed that:
- six percent of the time, the shopper was not given a leaflet
- 25 percent of the information failed to meet minimum standards for usefulness
- 97 percent of the lisinopril leaflets and 82 percent of the metformin leaflets failed to adequately warn consumers about stopping the medication if side effects occurred
According to the FDA, the consumer leaflets should include the name of the medication you?re taking and how to use it, how to know if you are improving for the condition being treated, situations when you should not use the medication, symptoms of serious or frequent side effects and what to do, and encouraging you to talk to your health care professional about your medication.
What do you think? Leave a comment below or in the Medication Forum.
To ask me a question about medication, email me at drugs.guide@about.com.
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Photo ? istockphoto.com
FDA Study Finds Consumer Medication Information Not Consistently Useful originally appeared on About.com Drugs on Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 10:14:47.
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Foul Odor Prompts OTC Medication Recall
McNeil Consumer Healthcare is voluntarily recalling several popular over-the-counter medications after consumers reported a moldy, musty smell. A small number of people have experienced nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, or diarrhea.
The smell is thought to be due to trace amounts of a chemical called 2,4,6-tribromoanisole (TBA), which is found in the wood pallets that house the packaging materials for the drugs. While scientists haven’t extensively studied this chemical, so far no major health problems have been reported in the scientific literature.
Some of the products on the recall list include Benadryl, Extra Strength Tylenol, Rolaids, Motrin IB, Children’s Motrin, Tylenol Arthritis, and more. You can find the full list (PDF) on the FDA’s website.
Foul Odor Prompts OTC Medication Recall originally appeared on About.com Drugs on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at 15:21:47.
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American Pain Society Endorses FDA Guideline For Medication Disposal
Calling it “an important first step in attempting to reverse an escalating public health menace caused by diversion of prescription opioid pain medications,” the American Pain Society today announced its support for a new FDA initiative to encourage consumers to remove unused pain drugs from home medicine cabinets…
Common pain relief medication may encourage cancer growth
Although morphine has been the gold-standard treatment for postoperative and chronic cancer pain for two centuries, a growing body of evidence is showing that opiate-based painkillers can stimulate the growth and spread of cancer cells. Two new studies advance that argument and demonstrate how shielding lung cancer cells from opiates reduces cell proliferation, invasion and migration in both cell-culture and mouse models.
Recovering With 4-Legged Friends Requires Less Pain Medication
Adults who use pet therapy while recovering from total joint-replacement surgery require 50 percent less pain medication than those who do not. These findings were presented at the 18th Annual Conference of the International Society of Anthrozoology and the First Human Animal Interaction Conference (HAI) in Kansas City, Mo.
Recovering With Four-Legged Friends Requires Less Pain Medication
Adults who use pet therapy while recovering from total joint-replacement surgery require 50 percent less pain medication than those who do not. These findings were presented at the 18th Annual Conference of the International Society of Anthrozoology and the First Human Animal Interaction Conference (HAI) in Kansas City, Mo.
HHS Orders Intravenous Antiviral Flu Medication To Help Patients Hospitalized With 2009 H1N1
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced contract awards for up to 120,000 treatment courses of intravenous (IV) antiviral drugs to help treat hospitalized 2009 H1N1 influenza patients. Patients hospitalized with 2009 H1N1 influenza are evaluated to determine if antiviral drugs will be useful; some patients are not able to take the drugs that are currently available as pills or liquid and may benefit from intravenous antiviral medications.
Which patient-related factors determine self-perceived patient adherence to prescribed dyspepsia medication?
Patient adherence to medical treatment for dyspepsia is disappointing, whereas adherence is crucial for a proper evaluation of treatment. This prospective study used elements of the Integrated Change Model and Weiner’s Attribution Theory to describe patients’ important cognitions and their interrelationships regarding self-perceived adherence to short-term medical treatment for dyspepsia. Patient questionnaires measured the predictors before treatment and self-perceived adherence after treatment. Approximately one-quarter of the patients indicated that they were non-adherent (n = 347). Univariate and multiple linear regression analyses revealed several significant predictors that explained 44% of the variance in self-perceived adherence. Patients with a low educational level, patients who claimed to regularly forget their medication in general, patients with a low self-efficacy or a low intention were less likely to be adherent. These results may indicate targets for interventions designed to improve adherence to medical treatment for dyspepsia. For instance, asking about expected difficulties in taking acid suppressants (e.g. forgetfulness or medication use at weekends) and making action plans to overcome these difficulties (e.g. using reminders) may result in improved adherence rates. Such an approach may reach a substantial number of patients since one in five patients in our study experienced some difficulties in taking medication.
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