June 26, 2019: Palliative Care: A Multi-Incident Analysis
As defined by the World Health Organization, palliative care is an "approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual". Many patients receiving palliative care have complex symptom control needs and are receiving multiple medications (including high-alert medications such as high-potency opioids). If medication errors do occur, the consequences may lead to worsening of symptoms or unnecessary suffering, and may even hasten death. A multi-incident analysis was conducted to identify some of the complexities contributing to medication errors in this vulnerable population. Read more ...
