Self-administration and reuse of medicines.

Abstract

Children Drug administration Paediatric nursing Pharmacists Self medication The self-administration of medicines and the re-use of patients’ own drugs are not new concepts in adult medicine (Bird 1988, Davidson 1974, Department of Health 1989, Standing Pharmaceutical Advisory Committee 1993). Many hospitals throughout the country have adopted these practices and they are mentioned as part of The NHS Plan (Department of Health 2000). A project to implement self-administration and re-use of medicines was started at Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, in 1993 (Semple et al 1995, Sutherland et al 1995), and since then has spread to most wards of this 1,500-bedded hospital, with the exception of the paediatric directorate. This article gives an overview of how self-administration and the reuse of patients’ own medicines was moved into the paediatric directorate by a multidisciplinary team involving the pharmacy department and children’s services. Changes in practice were needed to bring about the innovation, and further modifications were made as a result of the project. These are also discussed, along with issues relating to documentation and training.