I had a patient recently (a male in his late 60’s), whose treatment plan includes taking 83 pills a week! Pills he cannot easily afford and often neglects to take. I met with him to do a medication reconciliation recently and started by asking him what “matters to you”. He said “getting my house in order”. I asked what barriers he might have to doing that and he smiled and said “all these pills!” So that’s where we started. I helped him take all of the pill bottles out of pharmacy bags, new prescriptions ordered the week before, bottles in bags stapled shut and unopened. We went through a list together marking “morning, noon, evening, and night”. We talked through what the pills were for and when and how to take them. He verbalized understanding with teach back, a bit overwhelmed, but smiled as he said “a small fortune here!”. He was given a new, larger pill box, actually two, and a larger plastic tub for all his bottles. He left feeling “more in order” as he said. I wondered about getting him a security guard to protect the patient and ‘his loot’ on the way to the car!
I called the patient’s primary care physician and expressed my concerns over the number of pills this patient, who by the way also had early stages of dementia ( part of the new medications we took out of the unopened bags and bottles) was taking. The physician said he had no idea how many pills it added up to! The primary care physician said “I’ll take a look, but unfortunately each of his specialists feel strongly about what they are treating him for (diabetes, COPD, early onset dementia, urology and cardiac) and I’m not sure who might feel their medications are less important.” An appointment was set for a review of the patient’s med list with the primary care physician. The patient rescheduled this appointment, and the next appointment he ‘no showed’. Perhaps overwhelmed?
How difficult it is when the treatments for ‘optimal’ health supersedes living optimally! Such a burden we unfairly place on patients in healthcare sometimes. New meds to try, old meds we rely on.
I’m not giving up though. I will continue to help this patient lighten his load so he can run the way he desires, as much as he is able, in these next few years! Now, we just need to find out how to encourage him to get to his next appointment, but those barriers are another story!
Through all of my day, thinking about my patient’s priorities and ‘what matters to them’ has changed how I approach transitional care for my patients. I have “what matters to me” on my wall to remind myself to keep my needs and wishes in perspective too. I meet patients with their priorities and capacity in mind. It’s a start, but it’s making a difference in my nursing care!
Renee’ Herman, RN, BSN, MHSA
High Risk Transitional Care Coordinator
Saint Luke’s Hospital
