Pharmacy-nursing discharge counseling program for cardiac patients.

A cooperative pharmacy-nursing program for discharge medication counseling for cardiac patients that uses printed medication teaching cards is described. A pharmacy-nursing working group had determined that a formal program for discharge medication counseling was needed, and a pilot program was implemented on the cardiopulmonary-care units. Medication teaching cards were developed for commonly prescribed cardiac medications. Because the cardiologists who reviewed the completed cards were worried that widespread dissemination of the cards would cause some patients to suffer undue anxiety about adverse effects, a standard order form was developed so that physicians could order specific cards for patients. Patients who receive medications included in the program are counseled by a registered nurse; pharmacists occasionally are called upon to answer specific questions or to actually provide the counseling. In the first six months of the program, 86 patients received an average of three cards each. Although no formal evaluation of the program has been performed, feed-back from patients has been favorable and plans to expand the program to include more drugs and other types of patients are in effect. A cooperative pharmacy-nursing program for discharge medication counseling using printed information has proved to be an effective and efficient way of sharing necessary drug information with patients.