Do you have parents?

Better question is, Do you have parents or

grandparents that live in a nursing home? As society grows, nursing homes are
filled more and more with the elderly. Nursing homes never used to be a bad thing,
but now the death rate of the elderly in nursing homes is growing rapidly. The
deaths and injuries in nursing homes are typically due to failure to provide the
necessary care, insufficient monitoring, or below average treatment. When we place
our parents and/or grandparents in a nursing home we expect adequate treatment
given to them. Personally, I know when it comes down to nursing homes I expect
licensed and experienced nurses taking care of my loved ones. Studies show that
approximately twenty two thousand nursing home patients are harmed annually,
and about fifteen hundred patients die due to unskilled nurses. I do not know how
you feel about that, but that is a lot of harmless patients suffering for no reason.
When I am getting old I expect to go to a nursing home to receive adequate
treatment, not abuse.
Did you know that one in three nursing home patients suffer from some type
of harmful treatment? Examples of this mistreatment include medication error,
infection, or some other kind of harm related to their treatment. Medication errors
are very common problems in the medical field. They range from not preparing the
medication properly to not having enough fluids to flush them throughout the body.
Medication errors are typically brought on by negligence and ignoring the
instructions that come with the medication. Some negligent errors are outdated
medication, overdose or under dose, incorrect administration technique and
duration between doses. Nurses are not perfect so of course administrating the
medication once or twice does not hurt, but when it happens consistently it causes
a big issue. Doctors who reviewed the patients records determined that 59 percent
of the errors and injuries were preventable. (Allen 1) In all cases of patients who
have died, 1.5 percent of patients died from substandard care. A large percent of
the patients who passed had multiple illnesses but expected to live with proper
treatment. The lack of monitoring adverse drug reactions is also another huge
medication error. Of course, inadequacies in the training of nurses and physicians
play a big role in these errors.
The Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services promote safety efforts in nursing homes and
hospitals. There have been numerous reviews on patients records determining their
cause of death and harm. Doctors determined that fifty nine percent of errors and
injuries in nursing homes could have been prevented with the proper care. Millions
of dollars are spent for the patients that are injured, about two percent of
Medicares total patient spending. Fact is, there are a higher percentage of people
being harmed under skilled nursing care compared to medical issues in hospitals.
In 2002, the ASCP Foundation released the Geriatric Risk Assessment
MedGuide software (GRAM-PC), an enhanced and computerized version of the
MDS-Med Guide. (Lapane 404) The goal of this software is to assist in the exertion
of the care process when it came to patients. The care process includes the
evaluation of appropriate therapy, effectiveness, safety, and compliance when it
came to the pharmaceutical process. Appropriate therapy includes making sure that
the patient is not receiving unnecessary drugs and does not need additional
therapy. The effectiveness component of GRAM includes checking for the accuracy
of giving the patients the correct drug. Safety covers the appropriate dosage given

and compliance makes sure drugs are administered correctly. The Technology for
Improving Medication Monitoring in Nursing Homes document states the GRAM
software can assist in problem-identification and clinical decision-making regimens
of geriatric patients and facilitate the incorporation of patient assessment data in
the monitoring of medication therapy. GRAM is not only a tool for nursing homes; it
can also be used by pharmacists and other health professionals.
Geriatric Risk Assessment MedGuide, like every other software, requires
software updating to incorporate new medications and new ideas into the system.
The driving parts of the systems that must be updated are new information
regarding geriatric clinical syndromes, new information regarding the beneficial
medication effects in the elderly population, new therapeutic indications for existing
medications, and the introduction of new medications that are in the market. A
contract from the ASCP Foundation with the Duke University School of Nursing
dictates the process of validation (both face and content) and revision of the clinical
content of GRAM. The GRAM advisory board, an interdisciplinary group of health
professionals with expertise in geriatrics and geriatric pharmacotherapy, provides
guidance for the process. (Lapane 406)Geriatric Risk Assessment MedGuide is a
growing software in geriatric fields and validated amongst many health
professionals.

Allen, Marshall. "Wrongful Deaths, Injuries and Errors in U.S. Nursing Homes." The
Fiscal Times. Fiscaltimes.com, 04 Mar. 2014. Web. 12 July 2014.
Lapane, Kate L., Kathleen Cameron, and Janice Feinberg. "Technology for Improving
Medication Monitoring in Nursing Homes." Advances in Patient Safety 4 (n.d.):
401-13. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Arhq.gov. Web. 12 July
2014.
Rosenfeld, Jonathan. "Medication Errors." Nursing Homes Abuse Blog.
Www.nursinghomeabuseblog.com, n.d. Web. 12 July 2014.