Palliative care in home care: Patient safety in use of medicines

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the factors associated with patient safety in home palliative care regarding medication use. Method: This is an exploratory, descriptive study with a quantitative approach, carried out with family caregivers of individuals with chronic diseases followed up at the Palliative Care and Pain Treatment Unit (UCPD), in a referral hospital in Recife - PE. Data collection took place through interviews, using a semi-structured script. Data were organized in a spreadsheet built in Microsoft Excel and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: It was found that most caregivers keep medication storage away from heat and sunlight, in addition to routinely checking the validity before administration. However, 43.75% of caregivers do not have the habit of reading the leaflet and 50% report, at some point, having already changed the patient's medication and/or medication schedule. Conclusions: Attention to the storage of medicines was evidenced, but there is a need to implement strategies to ensure safety in the administration of medicines at home.