As a frontline nurse manager at Americare, I had the opportunity to complete the CHAMP Geriatric Medication Management course in December 2009. When I initially signed up for the course, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but now I must say that the course has truly helped me and my staff with our day to day practice.
What we liked most about the CHAMP Geriatric Medication Management course was the downloadable tools. These tools are invaluable to my staff and really helped us improve our communications with physicians and our thoroughness in evaluating new patient symptoms. My staff found the SBAR tool very helpful in communicating with doctors about patient medications. In the past we had difficulty getting physicians to respond to our orders but the SBAR tool helps nurses pinpoint the most important points about the patient and succinctly communicate them to the doctor. With this new approach, we’ve found the physicians to be more receptive to our requests and expedite our orders. One doctor in particular didn’t want to sign off on orders, because she didn’t want to be bothered with a case where she could not file an appropriate claim. When the nurse began using the SBAR tool to communicate with this MD, she began to get sign-off by the doctor on a much more consistent basis. This was a big change for us.
Many of the other CHAMP tools helped us by serving as quick reminder guides for our staff to do a more thorough assessment and medication review. Our population tends to have chronic behavioral issues and our nurses tend to focus on these. Yet with our patients taking as many as 25 different medications, we frequently find that new symptoms in the patient are related to a new medication the patient is taking. There is a tool in the medication management course called “Questions to consider when evaluating a symptom in the elderly” and this tool helps the nurse to really think through and assess the new symptom rather than assume it is part of the patient’s behavioral diagnosis.
These downloadable tools and the CHAMP record review using the OASIS help my team to stay focused on improving patient outcomes, which is why we’re here in the first place!
Rosemarie Tumarkin, Nursing Supervisor
Americare Certified Special Services, Inc.
