“Provide the patient (or family, caregiver, or support person as needed) with written information on the medications the patient should be taking when he or she is discharged from the hospital or at the end of an outpatient encounter (for example, name, dose, route, frequency, purpose)”.

Upon discharge, the patient will be given prescriptions for the following medications: Risperdal, Mirtazapine, Buspar, and Omeprazole. The prescription for each medication reads as follows:

  • One 2mg tablet of Risperdal, taken by mouth, every night at bedtime for relief of rigid thought processes and irritability/overstimulation.
  • One 45 mg tablet of Mirtazapine, by mouth, every night at bedtime with Risperdal to aid sleep and improve mood. 
  • One 20mg capsule of Omeprazole, by mouth, every morning 30 minutes to one hour before breakfast to prevent an overabundance of acid production in the stomach and treat acid reflux.
  • One 10 mg tablet of Buspar, by mouth, every morning with Omeprazole, every afternoon with a snack and every night at bedtime with Risperdal, and Mirtazapine. For a total of 3 tablets (30mg) daily. This medication will help with severe anxiety and compulsive tendencies. 

Medication reconciliation is a tool utilized by healthcare providers to evaluate a patient’s medication regimen, determine the effectiveness of the therapies, and observe the patient’s understanding of their medications. It is in the patient’s best interest to understand the medications they are being prescribed, their potential effects, and the opportunity to refuse or question the therapies being prescribed to them. Reconciliation also identifies potential problems with current medications and seeks to resolve them. Fully evaluating a patient’s prescriptions is especially important when the patient is seeing more than one provider. In some instances, a patient may unknowingly be taking a medication that can interact severely with another medication they are being prescribed. It is also a good opportunity for providers to investigate medication adherence. 

From this assignment, I have learned that there are multiple components that need to come together in order to safely and effectively treat patients. The end goal is for the patient to receive care in a safe manner. Safety ultimately starts with education which is why patients are given written information on the medications they are prescribed. This includes the name, dose, route, frequency, and purpose of the therapy. Medication administration, from prescribing to dispensing, requires a multidisciplinary team with effective communication that must also include the patient. I have seen firsthand how easy it is for medications to become confused with others and for incomprehension to become life-threatening. Not only is it important for medications to be prescribed correctly but also for them to be taken correctly and one cannot work without the other. 

Boyd, M. A., Luebbert, R. (2020). Psychopharmacology, Dietary Supplements, and Biologic Interventions. In M. Kerns., M. L. Brittain (Eds.), Essentials of psychiatric nursing. (2nd ed., pp. 128-162). Lippincott. https://phoenix-app.thepoint.lww.com/content