title: Prescribing and medication communication on the post-take ward round.
abstract: Gaps in communication between medical officers and poor planning are associated with prescribing errors and may result in patient harm. This study describes medication communication on post-take ward rounds (PTWR). Over 6 weeks on 24 PTWR, 130 patients, prescribed 1244 medications, were observed. Of these, 811 (65%) medications were discussed, with 249 discussions (relating to 126 medications) being 'in-depth'. Of 191 planned medication-related actions, 38 (20%) were not implemented by the end of the PTWR and 21 (11%) by time of discharge from hospital. This study suggests that the level of medication communication and subsequent actions are suboptimal. Processes to improve this situation should be explored.
authors.affiliation: Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.|School of Pharmacy, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.|Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Brooke
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.affiliation: Centre for Safe and Effective Prescribing, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Jenny A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Whitty
authors.affiliation: Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.|School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Donovan
authors.affiliation: Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.|School of Pharmacy, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Coombes
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D057189:Checklist; D003142:Communication; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D054539:Medication Therapy Management / Q000592:standards*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000592:standards*; D061214:Patient Safety
keywords: communication; handover; hospital; patient safety; prescribing; ward round