Medication Reconciliation Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to help pre-nursing students apply the concept of medication reconciliation to a client scenario.  This activity is designed to help the pre-nursing student develop clinical reasoning skills and develop safe medication practices that relate to the process of medication reconciliation. Remember from the lecture that a complete medication reconciliation can save the lives of your future clients.

Objectives: 

1. Explain the process of medication reconciliation
2. Identify best-practices for medication reconciliation
3. Apply the concept of medication reconciliation to the client scenario
4. Explain how to identify and reconcile medication discrepancies
5. Identify who should be involved in the medication reconciliation process

Conduct medication reconciliation by using the client scenario provided on the assignment document (located here: Medication Reconciliation Assignment Spring 2023 AO.docx) and your Davis Drug Guide for Nurses. Be sure to include the following in your final submission:

• Question 1. Explain and describe the five steps of the medication reconciliation process.
• Question 2. Analyze the client scenario for the following:
  • Omission(s) (medications that are not continued from the home medication list): List omission(s) and explain why the medication(s) were removed.
  • Additions (new medications): List additions and provide a rationale as to why the medications were added.
  • Duplications (multiple medications, either the same drug or the same pharmacological classification): List the duplications and explain potential harms that can occur to the client if both medications were taken.
• Question 3. Identify potential risks associated between the clients medications and the clients situation, medical history, and allergies.
• Question 4. Identify and describe potential drug-to-drug interactions and prioritize the drug interactions using the ABCs and Maslows.
• Question 5. Identify independent nursing actions that should be implemented to address the concerns identified in questions (2-4) and provide a reason for each action.

Explain the process of medication reconciliation

Introduction

Medication reconciliation is a process that can be used to ensure the correct doses of your medications are being taken. It’s important to understand how this process works and why it’s important for you to do it regularly.

What is medication reconciliation?

Medication reconciliation is the process of reviewing all of your medications and comparing them to what is prescribed. It’s important because it helps you determine if there are any discrepancies between what was prescribed and what actually went in your body. This can help prevent serious health issues by getting you off potentially harmful medications or helping you choose ones that will work better for your body instead of causing more harm than good.

This process also allows you to make sure that any adverse reactions don’t happen again, which could save lives!

Why do it?

Medication reconciliation can help to reduce hospital readmissions, medication errors, and ensure that patients are taking the right medications.

• Hospital readmissions: If a patient who stays in the hospital longer than they should is discharged with leftover medications (or no discharge instructions), they may not be able to take them safely at home. Medication reconciliation helps ensure that everyone receives the correct dose of their medication and has been instructed on how much or how often they will need it.
• Medication errors: Sometimes people forget or do not receive prescribed medicines when they leave the hospital; this is called an “error.” Medication reconciliation helps prevent these types of errors by making sure that all patients have received their prescriptions during their stay at any given facility and also provided with information about how long it will take before they are supposed to start taking them again after leaving the facility (for example, if you’re using a new formulary).

How do you do it?

The process of medication reconciliation is not difficult to understand, but it does require some effort on your part. If you’re looking for a short and sweet explanation of the steps involved, this section is what you want.

• Create an inventory of all medications that are prescribed by your doctor or pharmacy (including over-the-counter medications). This includes brand names, dosages, and refill dates–everything!
• List each prescription in one column; then list its corresponding medical code number in another column (for example: 20mg acetaminophen/500mg ibuprofen gel/3 times daily). You can also include instructions such as “take one tablet every six hours” or “take three tablets twice daily after meals.”
• Sort through each item on your list with an eye toward removing any duplicates–for example: if two prescriptions called for 30 mg per dose but only listed 25 mg per dose on both documents; remove both entries from step 2 above until only one remains–and then cross out any duplicate entries so there are no more than three left at any given time (if there are still more than three left over then repeat step 2 again).

Medication reconciliation is a process that can be used to ensure your medications are being taken correctly.

Medication reconciliation is a process that can be used to ensure your medications are being taken correctly. This is especially important for those who have chronic conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, because the medications they take have been carefully chosen based on their specific needs. If you know what your doctor prescribed for you and how much of each medication you need to take every day–and stick with it!

For example: if you’re taking medication A twice daily and need some extra help staying on track with taking it every day (for example: if you’re traveling or going away), then we recommend checking out our handy guide above before leaving town so there aren’t any surprises when returning home again later that week/month/year!

Conclusion

Medication reconciliation can be a tedious process, but it is important for your health. The sooner you get started on this process, the more likely it will be that you won’t have any problems with your medications in the future. We hope that our article provided enough information about medication reconciliation so that now you feel comfortable getting started on this important step of your care management plan!