Nurse Practitioner–led Medication Reconciliation in Critical Access Hospitals

Abstract

Medication discrepancies are common in cardiac patients discharged from hospital to home, leading to increased risk for adverse drug events and hospital readmissions. Medication reconciliation identifies discrepancies and reduces medication error–related adverse drug events. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of advanced practice nurse–managed medication reconciliation on the occurrence of medication discrepancies in elderly cardiac patients discharged from a rural hospital. The study findings showed that advanced practice nurse–managed medication reconciliation reduced the total unintentional medication discrepancies in elderly cardiac patients during the transition from the rural hospital to home.