Medication Discussions With Patients With Cardiovascular Disease in the Emergency Department: An Opportunity for Emergency Nurses to Engage Patients to Support Medication Reconciliation.

Self-report survey data can be affected by what patients want to say, how they interpret questions, and who chooses to participate. The study used a convenience sample at one academic emergency department, and the sample was mostly White and older, so it may not represent other ED populations. Patients who were unstable, delirious, unable to talk, transferred from assisted living or long-term care, prisoners, children, or cognitively impaired were excluded, so the findings do not cover people who may be most at risk for medication errors. The involvement scale was modified for the ED and medication discussion context, and the study is cross-sectional, so it shows associations at one time point, not that any factor caused more involvement or that a medication discussion improved safety.

Do not conclude that asking about finances or teaching patients about medications will increase patient involvement or reduce medication errors. This was a cross-sectional survey of 93 patients at one emergency department, and it shows associations at a single time point, not a tested intervention.