Navigation of the Medication Reconciliation Process
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Medication safety has always had strong implications on nursing practice standards. In today’s healthcare environment the impact is greater than ever before. The large number of medication classes is astounding. Maintaining current knowledge of all of these medications along with dosing recommendations, multiple forms, and applications for use can be intimidating for nurses as well as patients. Additionally, there are many patients who live with two or more chronic diseases for which multiple medications may be necessary for adequate disease management and to maintain quality of life. Use of multiple medications (otherwise known as poly-pharmacy) and their potential interactions, along with multiple medication forms, dosing and similar sounding names only complicate the process. Each of these considerations has a huge impact on medication administration safety and can certainly become a barrier to safe practice standards.
The other major factor to consider is the continuum of healthcare environments. Medication safety must be ensured, standards maintained through all care pathways, and settings the patient may pass through. This includes physician offices, ambulatory and long term care, home care and the acute care setting. Collaborative medication reconciliation is a mandatory component of the medication administration process. The nurse is integral in managing the process across care settings and disciplines.
This course provides a reintroduction to the purpose of the medication reconciliation process as well as step by step approach to completing the process. This benefits nurses in all areas of practice.
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Objectives
Upon completion of this course, the participant wil be able to:
- Define the medication reconciliation process.
- Discuss the purpose of performing medication reconciliation.
- Identify and provide rationales for each step of the medication reconciliation process.
- Identify nursing actions relating to collaborative care and the medication reconciliation process.
- Recognize the implications of collaborative care and communication in medication safety practices.
Curriculum
Chapter 1: The Need for Medication Reconciliation
Chapter 2: History and Background of Medication Reconciliation Development
Chapter 3: General Steps of the Medication Reconciliation Process
Chapter 4: Critical Thinking and Medication Reconciliation
Chapter 5: Resources
- California Bill 241
- Implicit Bias in Healthcare
- What is Implicit Bias?
- Implications of Implicit Bias in Healthcare
- How to Reduce Implicit Bias
Price: $15.00
Contact Hours: 1.5
Course Author
Patricia Schmehl
Pat originally graduated from a diploma program and later went on to earn her BSN and MSN and now her DNP while continuing to practice critical care nursing. Currently she is a faculty member in the ADN program at Reading Area Community College in reading Pennsylvania. She is the author of a newly published book (Jones and Bartlett): Introduction to Concept Mapping: Critical Thinking in Action.
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See our Accreditation Statements page to view our accreditation information.