Medicines Management

RATIONALE

The aim of the module is to enhance the theoretical foundations in medicines management to enable you to develop critical thinking skills to safely expand and develop your role as autonomous practitioners.

Medicines optimisation is defined as 'a person‑centred approach to safe and effective medicines use, to ensure people obtain the best possible outcomes from their medicines. Medicines optimisation applies to people who may or may not take their medicines effectively. Shared decision‑making is an essential part of evidence‑based medicine, seeking to use the best available evidence to guide decisions about the care of the individual patient, taking into account their needs, preferences and values' (Greenhalgh et al and Sackett et al, in NICE, 2015). It is therefore important that the nurse can manage the complex issues that arise out of medicine management by making informed judgements.

AIMS

The aim of this module is to extend your knowledge of the legal, ethical and professional issues that impact upon the effective and safe management of medicines. You will learn how to identify and reduce the incidence of drug errors and critically explore pertinent issues relating to drug concordance, management of drug administration and organisational policy related to adult nursing areas of practice.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

On successful completion of the module students will be able to:

1. Critically evaluate the role of therapeutics in health maintenance with particular reference to concordance and shared decision-making.

2. Demonstrate an authoritative, in-depth, current and critical understanding of medicines optimisation.

3. Appraise the theory and research-based knowledge of medicines management.

4. Critically reflect on the nurse’s role in medicines optimisation, as a member of the wider healthcare team