from Narcis.nl: "Background: Introducing a post-discharge community pharmacist home visit can secure continuity of care and prevent drug-related problems. Currently, this type of pharmaceutical care is not standard practice and implementation is challenging. Mapping the factors influencing the implementation of this new form of care is crucial to ensure successful embedding. Objective: To explore which barriers and facilitators influence community pharmacists' adoption of a post-discharge home visit. Methods: A mixed methods study was conducted with community pharmacists who had recently participated in a study that evaluated the effectiveness of a post-discharge home visit in identifying drug-related problems. Four focus groups were held guided by a topic guide based on the framework of Greenhalgh et al. After the focus groups, major barriers and facilitators were formulated into statements and presented to all participants in a scoring list to rank for relevance and feasibility in daily practice. Results: Twenty-two of the eligible 26 pharmacists participated in the focus groups. Twenty pharmacists (91%) returned the scoring list containing 21 statements. Most of these statements were perceived as both relevant and feasible by the responding pharmacists. A small number scored high on relevance but low on feasibility, making these potential important barriers to overcome for broad implementation. These were the necessity of dedicated time for performing pharmaceutical care, implementing the home visit in pharmacists' daily routine and an adequate reimbursement fee for the home visit. Conclusions: The key to successful implementation of a post-discharge home visit may lay in two facilitators which are partly interrelated: changing daily routine and reimbursement. Reimbursement will be a strong incentive, but additional efforts will be needed to reprioritize daily routines."
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Background: Guidance of patients treated with antidepressants is paramount for successful therapy. The aim was to assess patients’ needs and suggestions for improvement of guidance by physicians and pharmacists during second generation antidepressant (SGA) therapy. Methods: Five focus group discussions were held with a total of 34 patients using an SGA. The discussions were conducted flexibly and responsively using a semi-structured topic list. All focus group discussions were videorecorded and transcripts were analyzed using ATLAS.ti for coding, thematic and open analysis. Results: Participants stated they were in need of better guidance. They suggested improving content of information during decisional moments, patient-health care professional communication and communication between health care professionals, and finally, organization of guidance. Barriers to achieving improved guidance were cited. Conclusions: Content, communication and organization of guidance are pivotal for achieving optimal guidance. Participants mentioned their current experienced guidance had limitations and brought up solutions for improvement. A next step would be to discuss the suggested solutions with health care professionals to assess their views and to discuss the possibility for implementation. After implementation, future studies could be aimed at determination of its impact on patients’ treatment efficacy, quality of life, treatment satisfaction and healthcare costs. DOI 10.1186/s12888-017-1522-9
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from Narcis: "What is known and objective Medication discrepancies are common at hospital discharge, and medication reconciliation is widely endorsed as a preventive strategy. However, implementation is difficult for instance due to the unreliability of patients medication histories. In the Netherlands, community pharmacies are well-informed about their patients’ pre-admission medication status which enables thorough post-discharge reconciliation. Our aim was to study the frequency and nature of medication discrepancies, missing patient's knowledge and administrative problems at admission to primary care. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in pharmacies belonging to the Utrecht Pharmacy Practice network for Education and Research in the Netherlands. Structured checklists were used to evaluate all discharge prescriptions presented by adult patients discharged from the hospital to their own home during the study period. The primary outcome was all possible problems with continuity of care, defined as (i) the number and type of medication discrepancies, (ii) administrative problems and (iii) the necessity for patient education. Results and discussion In forty-four pharmacies, checklists were completed for 403 patients. Most discharge prescriptions (92%) led to one or more problems with continuity of care (n = 1154, mean 2·9 ± 2·0), divided into medication discrepancies (31%), administrative problems (34%) and necessity for further education (35%). Medication discrepancies (n = 356) resulted mainly from missing pre-admission medication (n = 106) and dose regimen changes (n = 55) on the discharge prescription. Administrative problems (n = 392) originated mainly from administrative incompleteness (n = 177), for example missing reimbursement authorization forms, or supply issues (n = 150), for example insufficient pharmacy stock. The patients’ lack of medication knowledge post-discharge was illustrated by the high need for patient education (n = 406). What is new and conclusion Community pharmacists are still confronted with problems due to inadequate documentation at discharge which can inflict harm to patients if not properly addressed. To reduce these problems, a rigorous implementation of the medication reconciliation process at all transition points, standardized electronic transfer of all medication-related information and interdisciplinary collaboration are crucial."
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Objectives: To understand healthcare professionals' experiences and perceptions of nurses' potential or ideal roles in pharmaceutical care (PC). Design: Qualitative study conducted through semi-structured in-depth interviews. Setting: Between December 2018 and October 2019, interviews were conducted with healthcare professionals of 14 European countries in four healthcare settings: hospitals, community care, mental health and long-term residential care. Participants: In each country, pharmacists, physicians and nurses in each of the four settings were interviewed. Participants were selected on the basis that they were key informants with broad knowledge and experience of PC. Data collection and analysis: All interviews were conducted face to face. Each country conducted an initial thematic analysis. Consensus was reached through a face-to-face discussion of all 14 national leads. Results: 340 interviews were completed. Several tasks were described within four potential nursing responsibilities, that came up as the analysis themes, being: 1) monitoring therapeutic/adverse effects of medicines, 2) monitoring medicines adherence, 3) decision making on medicines, including prescribing 4) providing patient education/information. Nurses' autonomy varied across Europe, from none to limited to a few tasks and emergencies to a broad range of tasks and responsibilities. Intended level of autonomy depended on medicine types and level of education. Some changes are needed before nursing roles can be optimised and implemented in practice. Lack of time, shortage of nurses, absence of legal frameworks and limited education and knowledge are main threats to European nurses actualising their ideal role in PC. Conclusions: European nurses have an active role in PC. Respondents reported positive impacts on care quality and patient outcomes when nurses assumed PC responsibilities. Healthcare professionals expect nurses to report observations and assessments. This key patient information should be shared and addressed by the interprofessional team. The study evidences the need of a unique and consensus-based PC framework across Europe.
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Bridging the gap between hospital and primary care is important as transition from one healthcare setting to another increases the risk on drug-related problems and consequent readmissions. To reduce those risks, pharmacist interventions during and after hospitalization have been frequently studied, albeit with variable effects. Therefore, in this manuscript we propose a three phase approach to structurally address post-discharge drug-related problems. First, hospitals need to transfer up-todate medication information to community pharmacists. Second, the key phase of this approach consists of adequate follow-up at the patients’ home. Pharmacists need to apply their clinical and communication skills to identify and analyze drug-related problems. Finally, to prevent and solve identified drug related problems a close collaboration within the primary care setting between pharmacists and general practitioners is of utmost importance. It is expected that such an approach results in improved quality of care and improved patient safety.
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In de huidige gezondheidszorg ontvangen patiënten vaak zorg van verschillende zorgverleners, bijvoorbeeld de huisarts (eerstelijns zorg) en de specialist in het ziekenhuis (tweedelijns zorg). Wanneer een patiënt die geneesmiddelen gebruikt in het ziekenhuis opgenomen wordt, brengt dit vaak de betrokkenheid van verschillende voorschrijvers met zich mee. Na ontslag uit het ziekenhuis ontstaan hierdoor vaak zogenoemde geneesmiddelgerelateerde problemen. Informatie over het geneesmiddelengebruik van de patiënt wordt bij het ontslag uit het ziekenhuis namelijk vaak onvolledig overgedragen naar de eerstelijnszorgverleners. Daarnaast wordt de patiënt niet altijd goed geïnformeerd over de veranderingen van zijn geneesmiddelen, zoals bijvoorbeeld over aanpassingen in de dosering of nieuwe geneesmiddelen. De ontstane geneesmiddelgerelateerde problemen kunnen de patiëntveiligheid in gevaar brengen. Ze kunnen bijvoorbeeld resulteren in een ongeplande heropname in het ziekenhuis of andere gezondheidsschade voor de patiënt. Zo ervaart een op de vijf patiënten binnen drie weken na ontslag een bijwerking van een geneesmiddel. De focus van de studies beschreven in dit proefschrift ligt op de periode direct na het ontslag uit het ziekenhuis. We noemen dit de heropname in de eerste lijn. Patiënten, maar ook hun mantelzorgers, voelen zich vaak onvoorbereid voor de thuiskomst. Tijdens de ziekenhuisopname nemen de zorgverleners in het ziekenhuis de zorg voor de patiënt op zich. Het moment van ontslag betekent dat zij zelf de regie over hun gezondheid en geneesmiddelen weer moeten overnemen. Het is daarom van belang om kort na het ontslag uit het ziekenhuis het geneesmiddelengebruik met de patiënt te evalueren om onduidelijkheden over bijvoorbeeld hun nieuwe geneesmiddelenschema weg te nemen. Van oudsher hadden openbaar apothekers als hoofdtaak het bereiden en verstrekken van geneesmiddelen. Tegenwoordig zijn zij echter meer en meer betrokken bij het begeleiden van patiënten met betrekking tot hun geneesmiddelengebruik. Deze andere rol kan cruciaal zijn bij het garanderen van de medicatieveiligheid gedurende en na de overgang van het ziekenhuis naar huis. Daarom is het doel van dit proefschrift om de problemen die optreden bij de heropname in de eerste lijn te ontrafelen en om de rol van de openbaar apotheker hierin te onderzoeken.
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Home care patients often use many medications and are prone to drug-related problems (DRPs). For the management of problems related to drug use, home care could add to the multidisciplinary expertise of general practitioners (GPs) and pharmacists. The home care observation of medication-related problems by home care employees (HOME)-instrument is paper-based and assists home care workers in reporting potential DRPs. To facilitate the multiprofessional consultation, a digital report of DRPs from the HOME-instrument and digital monitoring and consulting of DRPs between home care and general practices and pharmacies is desired. The objective of this study was to develop an electronic HOME system (eHOME), a mobile version of the HOME-instrument that includes a monitoring and a consulting system for primary care.
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Clear role descriptions promote the quality of interprofessional collaboration. Currently, it is unclear to what extent healthcare professionals consider pharmaceutical care (PC) activities to be nurses’ responsibility in order to obtain best care quality. This study aimed to create and evaluate a framework describing potential nursing tasks in PC and to investigate nurses’ level of responsibility. A framework of PC tasks and contextual factors was developed based on literature review and previous DeMoPhaC project results. Tasks and context were cross-sectionally evaluated using an online survey in 14 European countries. A total of 923 nurses, 240 physicians and 199 pharmacists responded. The majority would consider nurses responsible for tasks within: medication self-management (86–97%), patient education (85–96%), medication safety (83–95%), monitoring adherence (82–97%), care coordination (82–95%), and drug monitoring (78–96%). The most prevalent level of responsibility was ‘with shared responsibility’. Prescription management tasks were considered to be nurses’ responsibility by 48–81% of the professionals. All contextual factors were indicated as being relevant for nurses’ role in PC by at least 74% of the participants. No task nor contextual factor was removed from the framework after evaluation. This framework can be used to enable healthcare professionals to openly discuss allocation of specific (shared) responsibilities and tasks.
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The NANOSPRESSO project is a pioneering response to the complex challenge of treating orphan diseases, which, despite affecting millions of people globally, have only scant therapeutic options. This initiative represents a paradigm shift by decentralizing the production of personalized nucleic acid nanomedicines. Integrating advanced microfluidic technology with lipid nanoparticle engineering platforms—validated by their efficacy in COVID-19 messenger (m)RNA vaccines— the NANOSPRESSO model enables hospital pharmacists to seamlessly assemble tailored therapeutic cartridges for gene/RNA therapy administration at the patient’s bedside. This innovative model subverts the traditional constraints of high-cost, intricate manufacturing and the instability of nucleic acid-based treatments, offering a streamlined. localized, flexible, and patient-centric alternative. Inspired by the traditional art of compounding in pharmacy, NANOSPRESSO strives to democratize access to innovative treatments for rare diseases, challenging the conventional, monolithic medical approach.
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Objectives: Safe pharmaceutical care (PC) requires an interprofessional team approach, involving physicians, nurses and pharmacists. Nurses’ roles however, are not always explicit and clear, complicating interprofessional collaboration. The aim of this study is to describe nurses’ practice and interprofessional collaboration in PC, from the viewpoint of nurses, physicians and pharmacists. Design: A cross-sectional survey. Setting: The study was conducted in 17 European countries, each with their own health systems. Participants: Pharmacists, physicians and nurses with an active role in PC were surveyed. Main outcome measures: Nurses’ involvement in PC, experiences of interprofessional collaboration and communication and views on nurses’ competences. Results: A total of 4888 nurses, 974 physicians and 857 pharmacists from 17 European countries responded. Providing patient education and information (PEI), monitoring medicines adherence (MMA), monitoring adverse/therapeutic effects (ME) and prescribing medicines were considered integral to nursing practice by 78%, 73%, 69% and 15% of nurses, respectively. Most respondents were convinced that quality of PC would be improved by increasing nurses’ involvement in ME (95%), MMA (95%), PEI (91%) and prescribing (53%). Mean scores for the reported quality of collaboration between nurses and physicians, collaboration between nurses and pharmacists and interprofessional communication were respectively <7/10, ≤4/10, <6/10 for all four aspects of PC. Conclusions: ME, MMA, PEI and prescribing are part of nurses’ activities, and most healthcare professionals felt their involvement should be extended. Collaboration between nurses and physicians on PC is limited and between nurses and pharmacists even more.
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