Patients taking an excessive number of medications can have medication errors, falls, and other drug related problems. This condition has a variety of definitions that all use one name, polypharmacy. Polypharmacy affects not only the United States but the whole world. Patients commonly have this problem at age 65 or older. As patients age, they develop more diseases. Each disease requires a medication to treat symptoms. Patients at the end of life take a large number of medications which contribute to this problem. To help manage this problem with patients who are terminally ill, this scholarly project uses the Rosswurm and Larrabee evidence-based practice model as a structure to put the project together. The theoretical model used as a guideline to help medical staff become accustomed to change is the Lewin’s Change Theory. This theory assists staff in implementing new changes. Data collection is performed using questionnaires to measure how well medical staff learn from the education given to them. The project uses a prescribing tool as a reference for medical staff to assess how many appropriate medications each patient is taking. The number of medications prescribed to patients is also tracked by using chart audits. The purpose of these objectives is to demonstrate a decrease in the number of prescribed medications.
