med reconciliation in the ED

[ern91]

How does your facility handle med rec? Our way is so time consuming and

it doesn't seem to make sense to me. Maybe I'm being a bit naive with this next statement but here goes....... I can't believe JCHAO wants nurses to spend so much time on something like this. Maybe someone other than a nurse could do this? Pharmacy tech, Unit Secretary? I remember when this was the physician's responsibility. I work for a hospital with a very cumbersome computer documentation system (Meditech) and the ER version of this system is not nurse friendly.It takes a long time to do med rec on pt's with multiple meds, and the nsg home pt's lists are 3 and 4 pages long.

I understand the importance of med rec, I just think pts would be better served if the nurse wasn't tied up with so much of their time spent on data entry.

[Christy1019, ASN, RN]

like i've said in previous posts, my ER recently had JCHAO come in a few weeks ago, and luckily their main problem w/us was med reconciliation, and instead of leaving unknown doses blank, they wanted us to type in UNK.. whateverrrr... but now our nurse managers are coming up w/all these little "creative ideas" to fix our "issues" like having our float nurse when shes not busy to work on med reconciliations strictly, she still gets paid the same, but they get done, and she doesnt have to see patients at the same time. plus now to raise those damn press gainey scores we have the sweetest lil old guy that volunteers to give ppl blankets and pillows that we can't always run to the back to get, and he sits and talks w/ppl that are upset and u'd be amazed how many anxious patients he quieted down. now they wanna bring in a TON of these volunteers... most likely gonna be the older ones that tend to do the extra caring ppl need that sadly enough, us nurses cant always provide anymore! just a suggestion to ur boss, to have one set nurse work that day at her pay and do all the med reconciliations but not treat patients, and she doesn't have a med reconciliation to do she can see if the patients need anything? kill two birds w/one stone... i'd takek the job lol

[MassED, BSN, RN]

like i've said in previous posts, my ER recently had JCHAO come in a few weeks ago, and luckily their main problem w/us was med reconciliation, and instead of leaving unknown doses blank, they wanted us to type in UNK.. whateverrrr... but now our nurse managers are coming up w/all these little "creative ideas" to fix our "issues" like having our float nurse when shes not busy to work on med reconciliations strictly, she still gets paid the same, but they get done, and she doesnt have to see patients at the same time. plus now to raise those damn press gainey scores we have the sweetest lil old guy that volunteers to give ppl blankets and pillows that we can't always run to the back to get, and he sits and talks w/ppl that are upset and u'd be amazed how many anxious patients he quieted down. now they wanna bring in a TON of these volunteers... most likely gonna be the older ones that tend to do the extra caring ppl need that sadly enough, us nurses cant always provide anymore! just a suggestion to ur boss, to have one set nurse work that day at her pay and do all the med reconciliations but not treat patients, and she doesn't have a med reconciliation to do she can see if the patients need anything? kill two birds w/one stone... i'd takek the job lol

we had one of those guys, he was a younger guy, that would be out in the lobby to diffuse upset or angry people. He would offer drinks, blankets, etc. A patient care representative. It's a good idea.

[Christy1019, ASN, RN]

oh okay, was that person actually an employee or a volunteer? our guy is like late 70s, hes gotta be so tired walking around the ER all day but hes such a trooper and he seems to really love doing it, even if it is dealing w/cranky crackheads for free! lol

[samantha11]

In our ER we are expected to do med rec's on everyone. I wish the PMD's and RX would do more teaching on this, Give them a card filled out or something. Too many people don't know what they take. The Doc's are suppose to fill in indications, but all the work falls on the RN per usual. The night shift is at a disadvantage because we can't get all the pharmacies while they are open. Who really wants to call them anyway. I really love the nursing homes that send the in copies of MRA's but block off the signature section so you can't tell if it's been given or not. Really, what do they have to hide I wonder? It's all time consuming bs. People are so stupid. I love the "well you have it in your computer don't you". NO.. Anyway, you were suppose to follow up with your pmd after your last visit to the ER. That's what we tell them to do anyway..

[Mimmm]

Seriously.. JCAHO thinks med reconciliation will save lives??

[frenchfroggyAPRN, MSN, LPN, RN, APRN]

Yep, we do that in our ED all the time....Med reconciliation on EVERYONE. Even the earaches, the sore throats, etc. It stinks, but now it's just part of my routine.

We have to fill them out even if they don't take anything. Just to prove that we asked.

[ernrs2b]

I worked at one facility who wanted the nurses to scan meds in to Meditech, then scan the pt, and then give the pt's the meds you scanned, talk about tying up your time...I understand it works for the floors, but in the ER! It takes a minute or two to sign in to the computer, and another three to get the package and name band to scan correctly, before you know it, it's taken 5 minutes to give one drug! Not very efficient! I have found that most nurses have cut corners on this policy.