Caregiver’s Medication Plan for Hospital Visits

When a parent or elderly loved one is admitted to the hospital, the experience can feel like your mind is juggling multiple tasks simultaneously, akin to trying to keep a dozen tennis balls in the air. You may find yourself navigating a whirlwind of conversations with medical professionals, interpreting their jargon, and understanding intricate discharge plans. This can become particularly daunting when it comes to managing their medications, which are crucial to their recovery.

However, with the right strategies, useful tools, and careful preparation, you can transform into a confident and effective advocate for your loved one’s medication management.

8 Key Ways to Advocate for Medications During Hospitalization & Before Going Home

1. Introduce You are the Key Caregiver: Act as a liaison between your loved one and the medical staff. Hospital teams often see a revolving door of faces. Clearly introduce yourself as the caregiver who will manage your loved one’s medications at home, and you open the door to better communication, particularly to report your loved one’s preferences and feelings about medications, and share symptoms they experienced.

Pro Tip: Wear a caregiver badge or lanyard with your name and relationship to your loved one. Provide your contact information to the care team and ask to be included in care conferences and medication reviews.

Understand the medications your loved one will be taking. Research their purpose, side effects, and potential interactions with other drugs.

2. Facilitate Communication: Poorly managed pain or depression can slow healing and complicate recovery with or without surgery.

Ask:

“What is your hospital protocol for treating depression or chronic pain?”
“Is this medication short-term or something we need to continue after discharge?”

Tip: In certain chronic conditions, inquire about non-drug strategies, such as physical therapy, music therapy, or spiritual care, that may be part of the hospital’s recovery protocol.

3. Keep a Medication Record: An up-to-date list of all medications, including discontinued, new, or adjusted ones. Familiarize yourself with your loved one’s medical conditions and the medications they are prescribed. Understanding their treatment will help you ask informed questions. This can help you prevent errors, avoid confusion, and ensure continuity of care.

Tech Tip: Popular options like Medisafe and MyTherapy offer features to help users manage their medication schedules, set reminders, log health measurements, drug interactions, and even track side effects.

4. Get Involved in Care Planning: Hospital stays often involve new medications, dosage changes, or stopping old ones. It’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Patients often move between units (from surgery to rehab), and medications can be changed.

Quick checklist:

Ask for a medication reconciliation with every transfer.
Request a daily med list from the nurse and review it for consistency.

Ask:

“Has anything changed in their usual medication routine?”
“Is this prescription temporary or long-term after the discharge?”

5. Watch for Side Effects: Be vigilant about any changes in your loved one’s health after starting a new medication, at the hospital, or after discharge home. Report any concerning side effects to the healthcare team promptly. Some side effects, like dizziness, constipation, or confusion, can put your loved one at risk for falls or further hospitalization.

What to do:

Before discharge, ask: “What side effects should we watch for at home?”
Keep a side-effect tracker notebook, digital log, or use the Medisafe app.

6. Discuss Personal Habits That May Impact Medications: It’s important to be open about your loved one’s habits so the medical team can adjust medications as needed and provide support for quitting if necessary. Factors such as alcohol consumption, smoking, and daily routines can affect how medications work, especially after surgery or when taking painkillers.

7. Transition Support: When your loved one is being discharged, make sure that both you and they receive clear instructions about their medications. This should include when to take them and how to manage any potential side effects. Nurses are excellent resources for medication and caretaking information, so consult with them about possible interactions, care skills, and alternative options if needed.

8. Get Discharge-Ready – Medication, Supplies, & Follow-up: Discharge day can feel rushed, and that’s when mistakes often happen.

Before going home:

A day or two before discharge, ask for a clear list and instructions for medications to continue at home, including their purposes and timing.
Are there medical devices you need to order ahead?
Find out who to contact if there are questions after discharge (hospital pharmacist, nurse navigator, social worker, etc.).
For pain medications, request written instructions for tapering off opioids or other short-term meds.

Prep Tip:

If possible, try filling prescriptions and ordering needed medical supplies the day before discharge. This way, you’re not scrambling on Day 1 at home.
Besides the bag for personal belongings, bring a folder or binder to keep paperwork, devices, or medicines. You and your loved ones will receive multiple information from various healthcare teams (therapist, surgical team, medical team, social worker, follow-up appointment schedules)

Tech Tool: Use a shared calendar app (like Google Calendar or Cozi) to coordinate med times with other family members who are helping with care.

Keep a Running Medication Journal

Your best friend can be a simple notebook, Apps, or a digital document. A continuously updated medication log will help you feel more in control and improve communication with your family, your loved one’s primary care provider, or specialist after discharge. A few things to keep in mind for tracking include:

Med name, dosage, and timing
Any side effects
Questions to ask the doctor
Notes from conversations with healthcare staff

Takeaway for Caregivers

Being proactive, asking questions, and using modern tools can take a massive weight off your shoulders. Remember, you don’t have to do it alone— technology is your friend.

OCN_Hospital_to_Home_Medication_Checklist (printable PDF)