The administration of medications is a topic that troubles me. I get that they have many patients to get through, but they seem geared toward crushing because it is easier to shove a handful of pills in at once. My mom swallowed her pills at home one at a time with applesauce, but there they offered all her pills in one mouthful with a teaspoon of applesauce.... of course she couldn't swallow that and neither could I. So now her medications are crushed, some which I am uncertain should be, some which are coated because they are incredibly bitter. They are still given with only one scant teaspoon of pudding or applesauce, barely enough to moisten the powder. My concerns seem to fall on deaf ears, is it even possible to change this practice?
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TooYoung, thanks, I'm aware of the problems with long term tylenol use, but I haven't seen an alternative that isn't more problematic. Dr nixed ibuprofen, and given her chronic constipation I'm not willing to return to opioids until absolutely necessary. At 97 I'm thinking liver damage is last on a long list of health worries.
2. Take this list to your pharmacist and request in a typed form which ones can be crushed, which ones can be changed to a liquid or patch form.
3. Request the pharmacist to also check for innapropriate drug/drug and drug/vehicle interactions.
3. Ask the pharmacist to suggest the correct vehicle for the crushed drugs.
4. Take this completed list to the director of nurses and request this list to be posted in the patient's medication administration record.
5. I know, I know, this should be something the med nurse should ALREADY be doing. But obviously it is NOT, or you would not be raising these concerns. Another reason the patient has a hard time swallowing the crushed meds is because they TASTE BAD.
I saw the same thing when mom was in rehab
Even at her memory care now they crush meds in ice cream, yogurt or pudding
Mom has always had a hard time swallowing and needs patience and encouragement
When she first got there she refused to take pills from anyone so they even crushed them in her coffee - including antibiotics -
Now she'll take them from certain of the nurses but it's another one of those things we lose control of when they're not in our care
On more than one occasion a nurse has handed me the wrong pills for mom so I did raise that up but luckily mom doesn't take nearly as many meds as some folks