Catherine Bourgeois (name has been changed) is a nurse researcher – a colleague at one of the research areas in which I work. She often came to me with stories about her father’s care. He could no longer live independently, so he moved into an old folk’s home in the small town where he had lived for many years.
In the dining room every resident had an assigned place that was marked with their name on a large plastic place mat. Beside the name in much smaller letters, the staff had written out the medications that had to be prepared for that person for each meal. This assured that the meds were given correctly and Catherine thought that this was an excellent idea. It made life easier for the staff and served as a visible check list for the medications that everyone was on.
But one day when she went to visit her father, the placements were no longer there.
“What happened?†She asked.
We are not allowed to list peoples’ medications in public places like the dining room.†She was told. “It is an invasion of privacy.†A representative from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care had been by and told them that this practice was prohibited because of the new privacy regulations.
Catherine was astounded. “Does privacy take precedence over patient safety?â€
“Oh, no. We have to be sure that the meds are given correctly. But we can’t list them on the dining room table for everyone to see.â€
My colleague has begun to worry about medication errors ever since.
-- Sholom Glouberman