open access
A proposed steroid card model for palliative care patients
Affiliations- DipHealthSc BBioMedSc MBBS, Resident Medical Officer, Rockhampton Hospital, The University of Queensland, QLD, Australia
open access
Abstract
Background. Poor medication compliance and control may diminish the effectiveness of the prescribed therapy and might threaten the patient’s health. It is a substantial issue in palliative care as almost one-third of patients fail to conform to their therapeutic regimens. Non-compliance may lead to more admissions, longer stay at hospital and more short-term and long-term morbidity and mortality.
Purpose. Tools have to be implemented to limit non-compliance and ensure that patients are able, with encouragement and supervision, to monitor their treatment progress. Medication card is an excellent candidate, since it retains the essential information of the patient, doctor and the prescribed drug, and it also provides convenience, as patients are able to check their progress in real-time, and keep an eye on potential side effects and complications. This paper describes a model created of patient-version of steroids medication card that fulfill the abovementioned goal and provide this service to the palliative care patients.
Methods. The research was guided and supervised by palliative care specialists and nurses, and I approached multiple patients to calibrate the language and structure for simplicity and clarity. Furthermore, I reviewed official medication card forms produced by major hospices in order to configure the appropriate composition and format of the card. This work is expected to facilitate control and monitoring of steroid regimens palliative care settings.
Abstract
Background. Poor medication compliance and control may diminish the effectiveness of the prescribed therapy and might threaten the patient’s health. It is a substantial issue in palliative care as almost one-third of patients fail to conform to their therapeutic regimens. Non-compliance may lead to more admissions, longer stay at hospital and more short-term and long-term morbidity and mortality.
Purpose. Tools have to be implemented to limit non-compliance and ensure that patients are able, with encouragement and supervision, to monitor their treatment progress. Medication card is an excellent candidate, since it retains the essential information of the patient, doctor and the prescribed drug, and it also provides convenience, as patients are able to check their progress in real-time, and keep an eye on potential side effects and complications. This paper describes a model created of patient-version of steroids medication card that fulfill the abovementioned goal and provide this service to the palliative care patients.
Methods. The research was guided and supervised by palliative care specialists and nurses, and I approached multiple patients to calibrate the language and structure for simplicity and clarity. Furthermore, I reviewed official medication card forms produced by major hospices in order to configure the appropriate composition and format of the card. This work is expected to facilitate control and monitoring of steroid regimens palliative care settings.
Keywords
medications, steroids, palliative care, patient safety
About this articleTitle
A proposed steroid card model for palliative care patients
Journal
Palliative Medicine in Practice
Issue
Article type
Review paper
Pages
149-154
Published online
2017-05-19
Page views
373
Article views/downloads
917
Bibliographic record
Medycyna Paliatywna w Praktyce 2016;10(4):149-154.
Keywords
medications
steroids
palliative care
patient safety
Authors
Muath Alduhishy
