NURS FPX 4900 Capella University Role of Literature and Evidence in Capstone Project Presentation Plan Proposal Sample

Proposed Plan

Many unnecessary deaths and higher healthcare expenses are brought on by adverse drug reactions. One tactic that can be used in the healthcare setting to lower the likelihood of adverse responses is medication reconciliation. The prevention of hazardous drug reactions also depends on the patient’s comprehension of medicine and adverse drug reactions. This project plan focuses on developing a medication reconciliation process and educating elderly patients within the healthcare organization to reduce the possibility of drug interactions. 

The project targets older patients 65 years and above admitted in the healthcare organization in a bid to reconcile their records for improved medication monitoring and improve their knowledge on adverse drug reactions. The project will reduce medication errors, misinformation about drugs, and drug abuse.

The project will be implemented in the hospital where the learner is currently undertaking their clinical practicum and hence the learner will be the project leader for this particular intervention. The reconciliation will only capture a section of the in-patient population owing to the scope of this project. Older adults are more likely to encounter polypharmacy due to high comorbidities in the population (Lavan & Gallagher, 2016). 

Therefore, they are the primary target for the medication reconciliation and education program. This context of project implementation is the primary clinical practice departments where the learner is attached. By testing the effectiveness and results of the project on older adults, it will be possible to expand medication reconciliation and education to other populations and implement the project in a larger scope and more effectively with the entire patient population.

The project will be implemented through nurses’ involvement in interviewing patients and comparing their medication history with the medical chart. One of the major causes of drug reactions is the lack of knowledge on the part of the practitioner, mainly due to out-of-date records that may misguide them (Pedrós, Formiga, Corbella, & Arnau, 2016). This process will, therefore, be an intervention to update records using the latest drug and medication information of patients. 

Nurses will interview patients to gather information on their history of medication. This information will then be compared with the medical chart and nurses will identify any drug-related problem and potential risks with medications in the future. This process will require the presence or consent of caregivers for older adults who cannot properly communicate, and patients whose medical condition may limit their communication or cognitive functioning. This intervention will basically be a process of data collection and reconciliation with the existing records for better insight on patient medication.

Drug therapy in the hospital setting may work in the short-term but may fail in the long-run without the necessary collaboration and coordination of care. Medication reconciliation is a process of instituting practices and guidelines which will maintain proper medication while in the hospital and after discharge of the patient. The program, therefore, assists in avoiding medication errors and institutes a proactive approach to drug therapy to avoid negative outcomes (Redmond et al., 2018). 

The project, therefore, will reduce the incidence of medication errors and drug reactions which can be deadly in some instances. This project is thus necessary since it provides an opportunity to reduce instances of drug reactions and other adverse events caused by medications by updating records and keeping the patients aware of the medication they take and the reactions from the same.

The project implementation will include a process of consulting with patients to understand the medication they are taking and maintain a medication log sheet for them. Nurses will use the medication chart to review current and previous medications that patients have been taking. This will help the patients in learning potential effects of the medication they have and contribute in building log sheets for their medication to effectively monitor them.

This collaborative effort will allow clarity and set up a platform for older patient education. Brief educational sessions will be held with each patient and additional material such as pamphlets will be provided for patients’ reference.

Technology

As in any other healthcare process, medication reconciliation utilizes several technological tools to aid in the process. One tool that has been presented is the use of telehealth as a means of collecting information. The article by Castelucci (2019) proposes that the use of telehealth can speed the process and hence reduce the hassle of perso