Self‐administration of Medications by Patients in Hospitals or Extended Care Facilities

A bstract : Patients in hospitals and extended care facilities usually are given their medications by a nurse until the very moment of discharge. Then they are expected to adhere accurately to often difficult schedules which may include taking several drug preparations of confusing sizes, shapes and colors. A group of 20 elderly long‐term hospital patients were studied for their abilities regarding self‐administration of medications. They demonstrated surprising accuracy. In the two‐week study, only 5 of the 20 patients made errors; and in a total of 588 opportunities, only 14 errors occurred. Self‐administration, in properly selected cases, appears to offer a chance to “teach” patients and to tailor the medication schedules realistically to their limitations. The results of our small pilot study indicate that, through appropriate application of this policy, we may expect a freeing of nursing time for other services, a decrease in hospital costs, and a reduction of post‐hospital morbidity through increased accuracy of drug administration. Several other facets of this policy are under study, e.g., how well patients will perform during longer periods; the methods for checking reliability of the patient; the roles of nurse, pharmacist and physician; and the hospital legal aspects.