Good
medicine
Home health nurses help patients avoid medication mix-ups
6
q
WHEN
a nurse from Simi Valley
Hospital’s Home Care Services was
chatting with Mrs. Baird* one day
during an in-home visit, she made
a disturbing discovery: Mrs. Baird
had been taking three identical
medications to treat a thyroid
issue. It turned out that the patient
had gotten prescriptions from two
di erent doctors and another from a
hospital, and she had never realized
they were all the same drug.
With the majority of older adults
taking multiple prescription drugs
to manage a variety of health
issues—and some having to juggle
as many as 18 to 20 di erent
medications each day—one of the
most important aspects of senior
safety is medication management.
It is a primary focus of Simi Valley
Hospital’s Home Care Services.
“When we make an appointment to
see a patient for the rst time, we tell
them we will want to see two things
on our rst visit: their insurance
Medication management tips
w
Read your prescription labels and
accompanying paperwork carefully
to make sure you understand what
you’re taking and why, as well as
when and how you should take your
medications.
w
Make a list of every medication,
vitamin and herbal supplement you’re
taking—including the dosage amount
and when you take it. Keep the list
with you at all times.
w
If more than one person is taking
medications in your household,
store each person’s medications in a
separate place from the others.
w
Use a pill storage box with
separate containers for each day
to help you avoid missing doses
or overdosing.
w
Talk with your doctor if you
experience any side e ects from a
new prescription.
card and all of the medications and
supplements they are taking,” said
Eileen Tondreau, director of Home
Care Services. “It is a top priority for
our nurses to get an accurate list of
everything the patient is taking.”
Home care nurses ask patients to
collect all of the original containers
for every medication or supplement
they have in their home. e nurses
carefully review each container to
compile a complete inventory, then
they create a list of the medications
patients say they are currently taking
and fax that list to the patients’
physicians for veri cation.
Fairly o en, this inventory turns
up duplicate prescriptions, expired
