Nurse delivered medication safety screening program for home care visits

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Nursing

Background:

• Home care clients face medication safety challenges, particularly with storage, disposal, and safe opioid use.
• Limited research exists on medication safety interventions specifically for the home care setting.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a medication safety initiative integrated with opioid misuse and overdose prevention screening for home care clients.
• To assess the feasibility of using modified community pharmacy tools in home health nursing.

Main Methods:

• Home health nurses screened new clients for medication storage, disposal, and pain medication use.
• Patients on opioids underwent screening for opioid-specific risks.
• Interventions included education, medication lock boxes, disposal packets, and naloxone.

Main Results:

• 85% of clients stored medications properly, but 38% did not dispose of unused medications safely.
• Clients receiving higher levels of care had greater pain medication needs and were more likely to receive naloxone.
• The initiative successfully identified safety concerns and provided targeted interventions.

Conclusions:

• Integrating medication safety and opioid risk screening into routine home health visits is feasible and beneficial.
• This approach offers a valuable opportunity to enhance patient safety and prevent medication-related harm in the home care population.