Abstract
Objective.
To investigate the quality of the written prescribing documents which form the basis for the district nurses' drug administration in primary care.
Design.
69 (77%) of the district nurses recorded data in the written prescribing documents for patients whom they saw during one week.
Setting.
16 primary-health-care centres in the southern part of Stockholm County, Sweden.
Study object.
935 written, prescribing documents.
Results.
More than half of the prescribing documents lacked one or more important items of information for the handling of the drugs and, in addition, 7,5% lacked these items altogether. Furthermore, about half of the prescribing documents with high pharmacological potency or high risk in the event of a missed dose lacked one or more items of information and 13,8% lacked these items altogether.
Conclusion.
A high percentage of qualitative shortcomings was discovered in the written prescribing documents handled by the district nurses. This cannot be considered to be compatible with the idea of good and safe treatment. The result also indicates an inefficient working situation for the health and medical staff involved and increased risk for the patient.