Polypharmacy Among the Elderly :: Health Care

Polypharmacy among the senile is a growing concern in U.S. healthcare system. Elderly who fool comorbities and issuance quadruplex medications are at a higher try for potential adverse medicate reactions. Elderly who take over-the-counter medications, herbs, and supplements without consulting their medical student are at risk for adverse reactions associated with polypharmacy. Polypharmacy can result from patients having multiple prescribers and pharmacies, and patients who continue to take medications which have been discontinued by the physician. There is a great need for nursing interventions regarding polypharmacy, including medication reviews also known as brown bag. As nurses obtain history data and select a patient assessment, it is essential to review the patients medications and ask open-ended questions regarding every(prenominal) types of medications in which the patient is victorious. In addition, the patient assessment is also an prospect for the nurse to inquire about any adverse reactions the patient may be experiencing resulting from medications. Nurses are in a unique position to fork over early detection and intervention for potentially inappropriate medications and its associated adverse drug reactions. Project PurposePICO Question Among the elderly patients receiving care at Cary medical checkup Center on Med/Surg, who are currently taking multiple medications due(p) to comorbidities, would reviewing medications at each provider visit reduce polypharmacy and its associated adverse reactions?Currently, through observations and clinical experience on Med/Surg at Cary Medical Center, medication is administered by the nurse. Nurses are responsible and accountable for administrating medications to patients. Patient medication education is mete outed by the nurse. Medication education includes informing the patient the reason for the medication, when and how long to take the medication, drug interactions, and importanc e of checking with primary care provider prior to taking any over-the-counter or herbal products. If the nurse is unfamiliar with a certain medication, a drug book is available for the nurse to put on and gain knowledge regarding the drug use, action, adverse reaction, and contraindications. Method used to conduct ROLA search for current peer reviewed research studies was conducted using CINAHL, Medline, and PubMed. The research articles were generated by utilizing the search entry with the terms of polypharmacy, polypharmacy among the elderly, adverse drug reactions and polypharmacy, and consequences and polypharmacy. by and by receiving a few research articles, a new search was conducted switch the term of polypharmacy with multiple medications. These searches yielded limited research articles pertaining to the topic of polypharmacy.