Good for the elderly
Patients over the age of 65 benefit from straightforward therapy regimens. Only medications with a clear indication should be prescribed, and they should be administered once or twice day whenever feasible. In particular, regimens that require a complex variety of dosing intervals should be avoided wherever possible.
Box 1: Recommendations for appropriate prescription in older people Carry out a regular medication review with the patient, and discuss and agree on any adjustments with them. Put an end to any present medications that aren’t needed. Prescribe novel medications that have a well defined indication.
As a result, it is critical that physicians or other health care professionals begin discussions about any practical medication concerns that arise in older individuals on a consistent basis, because older people can swiftly change their approach to medication administration.
As a result, when prescribing drugs for older people, general practitioners should consider the specificities of the elderly, as well as their biological and chronological framework, and should always apply the principles of rational, conservative, and evidence-based pharmacotherapy in their decisions.
These include avoiding unsuitable drugs, making proper use of approved pharmaceuticals, monitoring for side effects and drug levels, avoiding drug-drug interactions, including the patient, and incorporating the patient’s values into the treatment plan.
Overdose, underdosage, improper therapy, poor monitoring, nonadherence, and drug interactions are all prevalent drug-related difficulties in older persons. These problems include ineffectiveness of medications as well as unpleasant drug effects.
According to this six-step approach to prescribing, the physician should (1) evaluate and clearly define the patient’s problem; (2) specify the therapeutic objective; (3) select the appropriate drug therapy; (4) initiate therapy with appropriate details and consider nonpharmacologic therapies; and (5) evaluate and clearly define the patient’s problem again. (5) make information available,
Here are some pointers on how to avoid medication interactions:
Eight broad kinds of medication-related issues may be identified, namely: untreated indications; poor drug selection; sub-therapeutic dosage; overdose; adverse drug responses; drug interactions; failure to obtain pharmaceuticals; and drug usage without indication.
The amount of body fat grows as we age, whereas total body water and muscle mass decrease as we become older, in general. These modifications can result in medications having a longer duration of action as well as a greater impact. It is possible for drugs that were once effective to become compounded and to surpass their therapeutic threshold, resulting in significant negative effects.
There were a total of 33 factors found. Patients’ clinical conditions, pharmaceutical industries, physician characteristics, patient preferences, and the cost of medicine were the most often mentioned reasons.
As a result of our scoping analysis, we identified three important stakeholders who have an impact on successful prescription in older persons. These three stakeholders are the patient, physicians, and the health-care system in general.
In four analytical themes, barriers and enablers to reducing PIMs emerged: problem awareness; inertia caused by a lower perceived value proposition for ceasing versus continuing PIMs; self-efficacy in regard to one’s ability to alter prescribing; and feasibility of altering prescribing in routine healthcare.
Following these principles, clinicians are encouraged to (1) think beyond drugs (consider nondrug therapy, treatable underlying causes, and prevention); (2) practice more strategic prescribing (defer nonurgent drug treatment; avoid unwarranted drug switching; be cautious about unproven drug uses; and begin treatment with only 1 new drug); and (3) think beyond drugs (consider nondrug therapy, treatable underlying causes, and prevention);
When it comes to appropriately preparing and providing pharmaceuticals to patients, what are the legal obligations involved? -The nurse must be familiar with the patient’s diagnosis as well as the symptoms that are associated with the medicine. – The nurse is responsible for assessing the patient for any side effects of the drug.
Your prescribing responsibilities A legal obligation exists for you to fully comprehend the medication you are prescribing, including any potential side effects, contraindications, and the need for adequate monitoring. It is your responsibility to ensure that the prescriptions you sign are accurate, even if they were written by non-clinical professionals.