After discharge patient should take care themselves and take proper medication.
Many patients have seen not take medication therefore sometimes patients feel ill after discharge. Patients should do what the doctors said to them like medication proper diet dont make mistakes after coming home from discharge.
During my hospital Training, I’ve also been through a lot of cases like this, I have seen fellow Intern putting wrong medicines in prescription which can be dangerous to patient.I’ve reviewed that prescription and handled with the correct medicines and told my fellow to ask for help if any medicines are not written clearly.
And a message to all the pharma- please don’t ever hesitate to ask for help from your senior or fellow,you are dealing with the Life.
Discharge meaning is just apaper work done by the hospital staff it only 50% cure after discharge proper care and medication should be taken as per the doctor
It is always good to double check everything so that you can avoid mistakes. Make sure you made it clear to them before they leave, explain everything in detail in a way they will understand. That’s something I have learned through my practice. .
Absolutely agree. Discharging a patient doesn’t mean our responsibility ends there. Follow-up, patient education, medication adherence, and monitoring for any complications are all crucial parts of continuing care. It’s important we ensure that the patient understands their next steps and feels supported even after they leave the hospital.
Totally agreed, it is important to review discharge summary and ensure the patient is receiving the correct medicines. Clear instructions, correct dosage and patient understand makes a difference in recovery. Its vital to check on the patient post discharge too.
Absolutely, discharge doesn’t mean that the job is done. That’s where, our job starts. For the better understanding, we can also conduct patient counselling for their better understanding.
Being a pharm. D graduate , I noticed a number of issues during my internship regarding unclear prescription , patient counseling , medication counselling , patient discharge , drug drug interaction , drug food interaction , medication errors . Their is lack of information or no information from the doctors because of overcowded , or doctors are in hurry patient are discharged without checking all details no follow up advice .
Clinical pharmacist are rarely included in medication management , if they provide a role to us as a pharmacist we can help patient by explaining medication clearly and increasing the effectivity and efficacy of the medication . I believe its our duty to make sure every medicine given is safe and correct .
Absolutely! Discharge is a critical checkpoint.
I once found a case where both brand and generic names of the same drug were prescribed, basically duplicate dosing!
Our role as Pharm Ds truly makes a difference in ensuring patients leave the hospital not just treated, but safe.
During my one year internship at hospital i went through many roles and one of them is prescription analysis;while discharging of the patient we go through the case sheet and anlayse the prescription for any drug interactions,drug dosage issues.But I haven’t gone through any prescription errors as the doctors go twice through their case sheets.
Yes, discharge doesn’t means your role, responsibility are finished.
You to take take patient follow up periodically,what improvement occur or not.
And if any problem arise then how to handle the situation.
Rightly said…
Discharge doesn’t mean the job is done.
But the responsibility now shifts from the doctor to the patient to effectively take the correct medicines as prescribed.
During my training, a patient was discharged with both pantoprazole and Pantocid.
Same molecule, different brands but no one noticed.
I flagged it during final dispensing. One alert prevented unnecessary double dosing.
I don’t have experience personally, but I really feel this is an important step. Patients might leave the hospital with wrong doses, duplicate medicines, or confusing instructions that may cause many problems. Reviewing the discharge summary properly can prevent serious issues. Even family members play a crucial role that they’re the ones helping the patient at home, so if they don’t understand the medicines clearly, it can lead to mistakes. That’s why proper counselling at discharge is so important.
Hospital discharge doesn’t mean the job is done—it marks the start of a critical recovery phase at home. Ongoing care, medication, follow-up appointments, and lifestyle adjustments are often needed to ensure full recovery and prevent complications or readmission.
One alert prevented unnecessary double dosing.