Keeping patients safe through medication review and management in the community.

BACKGROUND: There are numerous publications on inpatient medication errors. However, little focus is given to medication errors that occur at home. AIMS: To describe and analyse the types of medication errors among community-dwelling patients following their discharge from an acute care hospital in Singapore. METHOD: This is a retrospective review of a 'good catch' reporting system from December 2018 to March 2022. Medication-related errors were extracted and analysed. FINDINGS: A total of 73 reported medication-related error incidents were reviewed. The mean age of the patients was 78 years old (SD=9). Most patients managed their medications independently at home (45.2%, n=33). The majority of medications involved were cardiovascular medications (51.5%, n=50). Incorrect dosing (41.1%, n=39) was the most common medication error reported. Poor understanding of medication usage (35.6%, n=26) and lack of awareness of medication changes after discharge (24.7%, n=18) were the primary causes of the errors. CONCLUSION: This study's findings provide valuable insights into reducing medication errors at home. More attention must be given to post-discharge care, especially to preventable medication errors. Medication administration and management education can be emphasised using teach-back methods.

Community nursing services during the COVID-19 pandemic: the Singapore experience.

Community nurses in Singapore support vulnerable older persons with chronic health condition(s). In the situation of scaled-down community health and social services during the COVID-19 outbreak, the community nursing team adopted measures for pandemic preparedness. This report is to share the Singapore General Hospital community nursing experience, preparation and transforming efforts during the pandemic. Team segregation, active screening and triage before visits and other precautionary measures were executed to minimise the risk of exposure to COVID-19. There was a shift from face-to-face to teleconsultation to meet the requirement of safe social-distancing. Community nursing teams continued to play an active role in supporting older persons during the pandemic, despite the challenges. Moving to the lockdown phase ('circuit breaker'), teleconsultation, virtual meetings and integrated partnerships were essential to ensure healthcare accessibility and continuity of care. The experience gleaned was valuable to advance future community nursing services in the evolving healthcare landscape. Structured teleconsultation and technology advancement are useful to complement the service.