Adult Family Home Medication Log WAC 388-76-10475. Medication Administration for Adult Family Homes in Washington State

Medication Administration for Adult Family Homes in Washington State
AFH Centers
Practice Project Proposal
Problem Statement The Adult Family Homes (AFH) in Washington State was established by the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and serve vulnerable populations especially the elderly. They also serve those with physical and developmental disabilities, mental illness, multiple diagnoses, complex medication in lists that require detailed dosing instructions, special needs, and those whose needs have not been adequately coordinated.. Currently, AFH providers are not required to have health care background or training for medication administrations, but they are trained and supervised by the nurse delegators. Medication practices need to be monitored closely at the AFHs where nurses are not always present like in hospitals to   prevent undesirable drug interaction, incorrect dosage, and therapeutic duplication and medication errors. In Washington State, there are strict laws on dispensing medication and there are AFH citations for repeated violations, which is essential to reduce the rates of medication administration errors. The Adult Family Home council is an organization that was established to ensure homes in Washington State are well supported and equipped with the necessary resources to accommodate increased needs in living facilities. Adult family homes reportedly have been regularly cited for failure to follow Washington Administrator Codes (WAC), Chapter 388-76 by the DSHS where there are inadequate tools to deal with codes1. In 2017 there were 634 reported citations for violating WAC 388-76-10475 (Medication Log). Proper medications administrations is necessary to improve the functioning and quality of life of the residents at adult family homes, improper management often results in serious and adverse consequences.  There is high frequency of the medication errors while health practitioners, policy makers and Adult Family Home staff members need to focus more on enhancing the quality of care to improve outcome1.The purpose of the DNP project is to investigate the medication administration errors in AFH and propose strategies to reduce such errors.  The AFH highlights the six rights of medication administration: right patient, medication, dose, time, route and documentation as well as reason and response.Objectives • Identify the origin and source of medication errors in the adult family homes. • Create simple and friendly tools to reduce transcription medication administration error citations1.1 Deliverables From the agency meeting, the need for a medication plan was evident. Thus the deliverable for the DNP porject is a care plan that includes guidelines for management of the medication process for the adults in the adult family home.Setting & PopulationThe population is the AFH providers in Washington State, who use the service provided by the AFHC and they focus on medication administration at these homes. The need for this project is necessitated by cases that have been presented concerning the errors made in the medication of patients and patrons in the adult care homes. The administration of med...