Nurse identified hospital to home medication discrepancies: implications for improving transitional care

Abstract

Care transitions are clinically dangerous times, particularly for older adults with complex health problems. This article describes the most common medication discrepancies identified by nurses during patients' (n = 101) hospital to home transition. Findings indicated that medication discrepancies were astoundingly widespread, with 94% of the participants having at least 1 discrepancy. The average number of medication discrepancies identified was 3.3 per participant. Medication discrepancies were identified in virtually all classes of medications, including those with high safety risks. Evidence-based best practices to reduce transition-related medication discrepancies are presented.