Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
2020
Abstract
Eliminating unnecessary, ineffective, or unsafe medications, also known as deprescribing, is important for the safety and wellbeing of patients who face terminal illness. Hospice nurses play a pivotal role in helping these patients navigate decisions about medicines as end of life approaches yet evidenced based guidelines and tools on how and when to do this are scarce. The purpose of this study was to gain insight on the attitudes and practices of hospice nurses at Hospice of Cincinnati (HOC) regarding medications and deprescribing and to disseminate evidenced based tools that they may incorporate into practice. The first part of the study consisted of an electronically administered survey to the home care and long-term care nurses working at HOC. Next, an educational session was held for the home care and long-term care nurses’ teams at HOC. The focus of the session was results of the survey as well as a proposed algorithm and communication techniques that the nurses may use to initiate therapeutic conversations about stopping certain medications. The proposed algorithm and scripts were tailored to the results of the survey and consistent with current literature. These tools have the potential to facilitate deprescribing earlier and with more ease, both of which serve to benefit the organization, the patient and families, as well as the nurses using them.
