Sammanfattning
Inadvertent events in connection with the admini-stration of medicines and registration is a sub-project, part of what is known as the Follow-home Project. The Follow-home Project is a randomised, controlled intervention study which examines the effect of accompanying elderly medical patients (over-80s) to their homes after their discharge from hospital.
Purpose: To reveal the prevalence of inadvertent events in connection with the administration of medicines, to check medicine handling on discharge and to prevent inadvertent events related to the administration of medicines.
Materials: 127 medical patients who have been accompanied to their homes by a nurse or therapist from the Follow-home Project.
Method: By means of a medicines form and comments on discharge from the hospital and in the patient's home. Inadvertent events and the number of preparations involved were registered.
Result: Inadvertent events were registered among 40 per cent of the patients, of whom 69 per cent of the patients were being treated with more than five preparations (polypharmacy).
Conclusion: The Follow-home Project has revealed inadvertent events in connection with the administration of medicines which could have developed into erroneous medication.
Discussion: It will probably be possible to reduce the number of inadvertent events by simplifying the medicines charts and dosage systems, or reducing the number of data transfers, using homogenous sy-stems, double checks and focusing on patients affected by polypharmacy.