Use of survey information to develop a hospital-based medication teaching program.

As the volume of prescribed medications and complexity of regimen continue to rise, medication instruction is imperative, particularly for patients with chronic illness who must care for themselves without direct supervision of health care professionals. However, as hospital acuity levels increase and lengths of stay decrease, limited opportunity exists to adequately prepare hospitalized patients who are to be discharged with new prescriptions. Hospital-based medication teaching programs must be designed so that they encourage patient-professional interaction, yet also conserve nursing staff time. In this project, members of a hospital-based, interdisciplinary committee used survey information to develop a basic medication instruction program that emphasized 'need to know' content. The program was designed to involve patients and also to encourage them to seek additional information from other providers. Potential for successful implementation was enhanced by participation of nurse managers who developed the pilot implementation procedure.