When kids that are ill leave the hospital, many times their parents do not understand what care is required for ongoing patient care and they often do not know how to give medication at home. For physicians and healthcare workers, it is important to give instructions that are correct and understandable, to prevent prolonging illnesses and avoid the parents making mistakes.
Researchers found that 38 percent of parents and caregivers do not give the right dosage and 42 percent didn’t understand how often children needed to take medication. Dosing less than the prescribed amount occurred between 42 and 48 percent, which often occurs with liquid medications. Between 62 and 81 percent missed recommended follow up appointments upon discharge. Either parents fail to schedule the appointments, lack health insurance, spoke languages other than English or had difficulty missing work or taking kids out of school for doctors visits, according to the report.
However, this report is also only studying children who were discharged during the day, which omitted children who were sent home at night or on weekends. However, that doesn’t negate the findings of the study, which still is conclusive that physicians and healthcare providers often fail to provide the right amount of information to the parents and care providers so that ongoing treatment is effective.
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Key Points:
- 1Medication errors are the most common problems children have when they are discharged from the hospital.
- 2Parents are often confused about when to see their child’s doctor after leaving the hospital or how to recognize worsening symptoms.
- 3Children with serious conditions can suffer life long issues if errors are made by parents after they leave the hospital.
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