bucknall-interprofessionalandintraprofessional-2021.pdf (1.82 MB)
Interprofessional and intraprofessional communication about older people’s medications across transitions of care
journal contribution
posted on 2021-04-02, 00:00 authored by Elizabeth ManiasElizabeth Manias, Tracey BucknallTracey Bucknall, R Woodward-Kron, C Hughes, C Jorm, Guncag Ozavci, K JosephCommunication breakdowns contribute to medication incidents involving older people across transitions of care. The purpose of this paper is to examine how interprofessional and intraprofessional communication occurs in managing older patients’ medications across transitions of care in acute and geriatric rehabilitation settings. An ethnographic design was used with semi-structured interviews, observations and focus groups undertaken in an acute tertiary referral hospital and a geriatric rehabilitation facility. Communication to manage medications was influenced by the clinical context comprising the transferring setting (preparing for transfer), receiving setting (setting after transfer) and ‘real-time’ (simultaneous communication). Three themes reflected these clinical contexts: dissemination of medication information, safe continuation of medications and barriers to collaborative communication. In transferring settings, nurses and pharmacists anticipated communication breakdowns and initiated additional communication activities to ensure safe information transfer. In receiving settings, all health professionals contributed to facilitating safe continuation of medications. Although health professionals of different disciplines sometimes communicated with each other, communication mostly occurred between health professionals of the same discipline. Lack of communication with pharmacists occurred despite all health professionals acknowledging their important role. Greater levels of proactive preparation by health professionals prior to transfers would reduce opportunities for errors relating to continuation of medications.
History
Journal
International journal of environmental research and public healthVolume
18Issue
8Article number
3925Pagination
1 - 16Publisher
MDPILocation
Basel, SwitzerlandPublisher DOI
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ISSN
1661-7827eISSN
1660-4601Language
EnglishPublication classification
C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalUsage metrics
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No categories selectedKeywords
interprofessional relationsinterprofessional communicationintraprofessional communicationmedication communicationolder peopletransitions of carehealth communicationmedication therapy managementmedication safetyEnvironmental SciencesEnvironmental Sciences & EcologyLife Sciences & BiomedicinePublic, Environmental & Occupational HealthScience & Technology
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