Because Medications Matter…
Published Monday, November 23, 2020
Jennifer, Jessica and Katie display an Automated Dispensing Cabinet, which provides prescribed medications to authorized staff safely and quickly, to give to their patients. Your donation can help fund more cabinets to be placed in multiple patient-care units at the Hospital. Donations gratefully accepted at healthsciencesfoundation.ca/cabinets or 345-4673.
Have you ever had a family member in the Hospital? I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess you have. It’s pretty common.
For me, it was my Dad.
Several years ago, he had a heart attack and needed angioplasty right away. After the initial shock wore off, the worry started to seep in. It’s a lot to take in when your loved one needs care in Hospital isn’t it? Especially when you can’t be by their side all the time.
When my Dad was recovering from his procedure, he had to immediately begin a complex regimen of medications. Stuff my Mom and I knew nothing about. It was so hard to keep track of what each medication did, when it needed to be taken, how much to take – truly overwhelming. Of course, these medications were critical for my Dad, so I wanted to be sure he received them properly.
Recently, I found out there’s technology that can help! And you can ensure that it’s available here at our Hospital so your loved ones receive the correct dose of medication at the prescribed time.
Right now, the Hospital is installing Automatic Dispensing Cabinets in some patient care units. Think of them like a vending machine for medications. They’re a combination of secure drawers and shelves that are operated by a touch screen computer system. These Cabinets hold approximately 400 different types of medication – all in single item secure bins so nothing gets mixed up.
When an authorized user like a Registered Nurse or Respiratory Therapist needs a medication for a patient, like your loved one, only the correct medication is available to remove from the Cabinet. Each medication is supplied by the Pharmacy, using unique barcodes, to make sure it is correct.
Since only the medication that’s been ordered is available for users to remove, it greatly decreases the chance that an incorrect medication will be provided to a patient. And get this; staff is guided to the right medication using lights on the Cabinet that direct them to the right drawer. That’s just smart. It sure makes me feel a lot better, knowing that medications are very securely stored and that only the correct medication for a patient can be accessed.
The other great thing about these Cabinets is that staff can access medications as soon as the medication order has been reviewed by a Pharmacist. This means faster access for patients.
When you’re in pain, having medication available quickly is a huge benefit and relief. But it needs to be the right dose or else it could potentially be fatal. That’s where these Cabinets help again. Any type of narcotic (like morphine) is provided as a single dose from a single drawer for users to remove, so that they can’t access more than was ordered. Plus, the computer system uses a highly-sophisticated system to audit and report on any narcotic use, to make sure any narcotics are being used appropriately.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have these Cabinets available in every single patient care unit at our Hospital? I think so. Which is why I’ve chosen to make a donation to fund the purchase of more Cabinets.
I’m inviting you to join me in making a donation today, so we can keep our loved ones safe, both now and well into the future.
Luckily my Dad is doing great and I breathe a huge sigh of relief that his angioplasty and the medications he took to recover have allowed him to be part of the milestones our family has experienced since then, including my wedding and the birth of my two kids. He even went skiing with them a couple years ago; something I never thought would happen.
I can’t help but want to make sure that every person who needs care at our Hospital will receive the right medications quickly and get better. I hope you do too.
Heather V, Your Neighbour living in Thunder Bay
Donate at: healthsciencesfoundation.ca/cabinets or call 807-345-4673 and mention you’d like to donate to the cabinets.