AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF THE PROCESS OF MEDICATION DISCHARGE EDUCATION (MDE)

Medication discharge education (MDE) is an essential component of the hospital discharge process. It is especially important for older perso ns with heart disease because they are among the highest users of hosp ital care. Accurate management of medications is believed to be one st rategy to prevent or delay hospitalization. Despite its accepted impor tance, there is little documented research about patient education in general, or MDE in particular. This ethnographic study collected inter view, observational, and document data from older persons with heart d isease, family members, nurses and medical records in order to describ e the process of MDE. MDE was found to be both structured and unstruct ured, uncoordinated, and driven by accreditation guidelines. Older pat ients and their family members valued MDE, especially when information was personalized, provided orally and reinforced in writing. Suggesti ons for improving the effectiveness of MDE are offered.