Abstract
Introduction: There are a considerable variety of inhaler devices available. It is important that these are prescribed correctly when a patient is admitted to hospital as incorrect prescribing may have an adverse effect on patient recovery and length of stay. We have investigated the accuracy of inhaler prescribing on the respiratory wards in our hospital.
Methods: All admissions into the respiratory wards (total no of beds =57) between March to May 2010 were included (total 83). All case notes were retrieved and only patients on inhalers or nebulizers were included.
Results: 83 patients were admitted of whom 44 (53% of total, age range 20-92, 68% female) were on inhalers or nebulizers prior to admission. COPD (57%) was the main reason patients were on inhalers/nebulizers.
Detailed accuracy of prescribing on admission during this period is detailed in Table 2.
Conclusion: Our results show that inhaler prescribing in hospitalized patients is poor and hospital doctors need to prescribe the correct medication for the patient as a duty of care during their in-patient stay.
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