Finding Success in Medication Management

Abstract

This article outlines the incidence and risk of medication errors in older home health care patients and reasons why improving medication management has become a national priority. The article also describes an initiative that was developed to improve geriatric medication management. The Visiting Nurse Associations of America (VNAA) Curricula for Homecare Advances in Management and Practice (CHAMP) program offers a multimodal, geriatric care, quality improvement educational approach that includes an online course, coaching calls, in-person workshops, and a faculty-moderated peer-to-peer support listserv. The target audience is home care frontline nurse and therapy managers. Course topics include mastering medication assessment and reconciliation, monitoring for complications, and improving patient adherence. In addition, the course includes strategies to help embed the capacity for continuous practice improvement within agencies.

Keywords

geriatrics medication management patient safety quality improvement

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