AGED CARE FACILITIES

Residential Medication Management Reviews (RMMR):

Complete this online form to learn how Choice QUM                                             can be your ‘Partner in Quality Use of Medicines’.

Choice QUM is a leading independant provider of RMMRs              to aged care facilities throughout QLD and NSW.

The key advantages of our RMMR services include:

  • We specialise in the medication management of ACF residents and are not associated with any supply service, therefore avoiding any associated conflict of interests in our clinical interventions.
  • We develop strong working relationships with a facility’s GPs and nursing staff.    
  • Our medication reviews involve close interaction and involvement with nurses, who find out input highly useful.
  • We act as a conduit in advocating the nurse and resident medication management needs with the GP.
  • More than 90% of our RMMRs are GP referred (compared to an industry average of ~40%).  This highlights the extent to which doctors find our service beneficial.  Furthermore, with the new collaborative RMMR model, our client facilities can continue to enjoy an RMMR (ensuring that Accreditation Standard 2.7 on Medication Management is not jeopardised). 
  • As part of our RMMR/QUM offering, we provide regular Drug Use Evaluation (DUE) reports on sensitive medication groups (e.g. antipsychotics). Our unique DUEs help provide an additional focus for our RMMRs on a resident by resident basis, in addition to identifying more global educational requirements for the facility. 
  • We routinely consult with nursing staff and residents (where appropriate) in the course of our RMMRs.  We are wary of the time constraints placed on staff and accommodate this fact.  Residents and nurses alike find this interaction with our clinical pharmacists extremely beneficial.
  • Our RMMR clients can also access our industry leading QUM services.

~10% of all RACF residents in Australia will benefit from a Choice QUM RMMR.

 

Quality Use of Medicines (QUM)

Under the new model for QUM services, the QUM contract is separate and distinct from the RMMR service.  While our RMMR client facilities also enjoy access to our QUM educational resources and service, we also contract QUM to many more aged care clients throughout Australia. So even if you have an existing RMMR pharmacist, you can utilise Choice QUM’s outstanding Quality Use of Medicines service separately.  Your separate RMMR pharmacist can also independently enlist Choice QUM’s services as part of their offering to your facility.    

~2500 nurses will have free access to the QUM Hub eLearning CPD platform.

The key advantages of our QUM services include:

  • Highly relevant and aged care specific education topics and resources.
  • We are continuously developing new and useful resources in response to the needs of our aged care clients.
  • Resources have been developed and refined to accommodate the specific working environment of aged care staff.

$4,761 of value FREE to Choice QUM clients

QUM HUB / Online eLearning platform

This refers to Choice QUM’s very own online platform to cater for all of the continuing professional development activities required of nursing staff taking effect from July 1 2010. The interactive online service also incorporates all of Choice QUM’s traditional educational materials and resources.

Online CPD Assist

Choice QUM’s secure online platform (QUM HUB) and CPD Assist tool allows nursing staff to record their Continued Professional Development activities.  The online portal can provide a print-out of your online learning/CPD activities and associated personalised certificates, which may then be filed professionally in your Choice QUM CPD Portfolio (see below).

Choice QUM’s CPD Portfolio for Aged Care Staff

The Portfolio refers to a professionally produced hard copy manifest that documents and provides an ‘offline’ account of a nurse’s CPD activities. When Accreditors begin auditing nurse CPD activities, this will provide an easy and comprehensive record.

QUM Education Kits

As part of our service, your facility will receive ongoing interactive CPD multimedia educational topics specific to the Aged Care environment. The educational resources are designed and led by Chris Bonner and are based on his practical approach to care in the aged care environment. Existing topics cover the subject of QUM in Aged Care; Dementia and Care Based Therapies;, Pain management, Constipation, Sleep and Hypnotics; and Falls. Subsequent topics are released on a 6-monthly basis.

Drug Guide for RNs in Aged Care & Drug Guide for EENs & PCs in Aged Care

Tailored specifically to RNs and EENs & PCs in aged care, these handy reference compendiums were developed specifically in response to the needs of staff in Aged Care. They offer a quick “what I need to know” drug reference, focussing on relevance to aged care staff in a language that is understandable.

Diagnosis and Care Plans in Aged Care 

Also relevant to the needs of residential care staff, this folder includes information on the most common diagnoses in aged care, focusing on care staff interventions and relevant QUM issues. The resource also includes useful and topical QUM Appendices (e.g. sunlight and vitamin D; generic drug names; care based therapies for dementia, pathology/LAB test information for RNs…).

Crushing and Dosing Guide for Aged Care Staff

This resource represents the most comprehensive and user-friendly crushing and dosing guide available. The guide goes the extra step by directing care staff to solutions and alternatives to common crushing and dosing dilemmas. The durable laminated resource has a handy metal loop that can be easily attached to the medication trolley for quick reference.

The QUM Times newsletter

This quarterly newsletter distribution provides a useful and attention grabbing medium through which to raise care-staff awareness of topical QUM issues within aged care. Care staff will enjoy the light-hearted depictions (by Choice QUM’s own cartoonist) of some of the more common situations that arise in Aged Care facilities relating to QUM.

QUMpromo

The material included in these packages is designed to assist nursing staff in utilising QUM to achieve positive health outcomes for their residents in the aged care setting. The material provided will include large colourful posters, unique QUM ‘tools’ and other features aimed at promoting and attaining QUM in your facility. For example, a recent QUMpromo distribution provided medication vests to help ensure staff are not distracted during medication rounds.

Reducing Stress-related Behaviours in People with Dementia, Chris Bonner

As the principle consultant at Choice QUM, the author of this book Chris Bonner, provides simple and imaginative ways to prevent and reduce stress-related behaviours in people with dementia in residential care. Chris’s approach is based on maximizing personal expression and fulfilment and recovering access to familiar, enjoyable and meaningful activities. He suggests strategies for managing common problems with feeding, bathing, toileting and sleep, looks at how to understand and cope with wandering, agitation and inappropriate sexual activity, and discusses ways of defusing aggressive behaviour.

 

In-service Education

Professional in-service education is available at no cost as well as popular clinical consult / case conference sessions.

Quality Assurance activities

In addition to a regular Drug Use Evaluation service, data is readily available on the outcomes of our medication management services. This helps promote quality assurance, best practices and identifies ‘global’ avenues for quality improvement.

Miscellaneous resources & services

  • Involvement in Medication Advisory Committees.
  • Developing tailored Nurse Initiated medication protocol.
  • Consultation in medication management policy development.
  • Developing tailored psychotropic and chemical restraint protocol.
  • Various activities that assist client facilities to meet and maintain Accreditation Standards.
  • Assess competency of residents to self-medicate.
  • and many more...

Complete this online form to learn how Choice QUM can be your ‘Partner in Quality Use of Medicines’.