Mary Wallace
Question:54 Miss M. Wallace asked the Minister for Health the regulations in place to protect elderly patients in nursing homes against the unnecessary over-use of sedatives and other similar drugs. [25048/96]
Written Answers. - Nursing Home Regulations.
Limerick East): Article 19.1 of the Nursing Homes (Care and Welfare) Regulations, 1993 states that in every nursing home the following particulars shall be kept in a safe place in respect of each dependent person: a medical record with details of investigations made, diagnosis and treatment given, and a record of all drugs and medicines prescribed, signed and dated by a medical practitioner. Nursing home proprietors are also required to keep a record of drugs and medicines administered giving the date of the prescription, dosage, name of the drug or medicine, method of administration, signed and dated by a medical practitioner and the nurse administering the drugs and medicines. Records must also be kept of any occasion on which physical or chemical restraint is used, the nature of the restraint and its duration.
The code of practice for nursing homes which was published last year states that every nursing home should have a policy on the use of restraint. The code emphasises that a record of all occasions on which physical or chemical restraint is used should be kept, detailing the nature of the restraint and the duration. The use of restraint should also be noted in the resident's nursing notes. With regard to medication, the code of practice refers to the guidelines for the administration of medical preparations for nursing-midwives of An Bord Altranais which oblige each nursing home to have a written policy and procedures for nurses on the administration of medical preparations.