Previously we have always worked together with #qlpickup.eu on IRC. Both #qlpickup.eu and holysh1t.net have helped eachother grow.
With this post I am not announcing that we stop working together. I am merely announcing that we'll create a seperate channel, just dedicated to this website.
From now on you can join us on both #holysh1t and #qlpickup.eu.
That's all! 
Taking the Pulse of Med Management
Medication management may be one of the greatest clinical challenges in senior living, where the average resident may take four to six asics onitsuka tigermedications a day, or more. Yet the assisted living business has earned a reputation for consistent positive performance in this arena."A major reason people move into assisted living is that they need help with medications, so it is a service we take very seriously," says Maribeth Bersani, ALFA's senior vice president for public policy. "We are training people, we are monitoring them, we are doing it safely and doing it well."The numbers bear it out. Looking at all medication mistakes with the asics running shoesexception of time errors, assisted living shows an error rate of 8.2 percent versus 10 percent in hospitals, according to Heather M. Young, Ph.D. and GNP, et al. in their paper, Types, Prevalence, and Potential Clinical Significance of Medication Administration Errors in Assisted Living.It takes a range of best practices for assisted living providers to score consistently high in the realm of medication management.Internal Vigilance，Some 1.5 million people receive the wrong medication or the incorrect dose each year, according to the Institute of Medicine, part of the asics shoesNational Academies of Science. Yet assisted living has a history of positive procedures that help ensure accurate dosing, of-ten in response to systemic causes that originate outside assisted living.Sandi Flores, RN points to poly-pharmacy as one example. "One of the major factors is the sheer number of meds our residents are taking," says Flores, director of clinical services for Senior Resource Group.To keep a handle on poly-pharmacy, assisted living communities implement a range ofturn roller protocols, according to a survey conducted recently for the Center for Excellence in Assisted Living (CEAL). The survey found that 74 percent of assisted living providers make sure doctors or registered nurses review lab data for residents; 68 percent use consultant pharmacists, and 67 percent use blister cards or pillow packs from primary pharmacies. This type of packaging is a safeguard to ensure residents receive correct medication dosage.Transitions also may be anfood packaging supplies issue, a time when drugs or orders can get mishandled on their way to the assisted living community. "The biggest problem we have found is when a resident is transferred [into assisted living]," says Loretta Kaes, RN , vice president of health services for Chelsea Senior Living.Safeguards begin with a vigilant nursing staff, Kaes says. "I want the nurses to question the orders. If you see a resident on 23 medications, I want the nurse to ask which of theseblister pack drugs possibly are overmedicating," she says. Nurses likewise make it a point to reconcile the medications as delivered against those as prescribed.New models also are emerging. Kaes has served with the Health Care Association of New Jersey, which has developed an even more streamlined system. The group has urged doctors to communicate directly with pharmacies, reducing the possibility of error and blister packagingsaving the nurse one step. "Otherwise, you spend 18 hours a day trying to chase the doctor down" in search of clarification, Kaes says.Rise of the Med Tech，One of the most promising, and most effective, evolutions in medication management has been the rise of the medication technician, or med tech for short. Also known as trained, unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP), these individuals are authorized to deliver medications, freeing nurses to pursue other tasks. The use of plastic blisterUAPs is allowed in virtually every state. These valuable personnel are enabled to do a variety of tasks depending on the state, and are required to attain certain types and levels of training, again varying by state.In the realm of medication management, "UAPs generally do remarkably well with this complex task. The bulk of the medications are low risk and routine, and the risks appear to be minimal," Young writes.While some states are questioning the use of UAPs, a growing body of evidence suggests med techs are an effective means forclamshell packaging assisted living to maintain its high level of medical management assurance. "Where it is allowed, which is in most states, it is working very effectively," Bersani says.JNL
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