Final answer:
Medication reconciliation is a necessary process to ensure patient safety and should be performed at every transition of care, including during surgeries, to prevent medication errors and ensure continuity of care.
Step-by-step explanation:
Medication reconciliation should indeed be conducted at every transition of care. This process entails verifying the list of medications a patient is taking to ensure that medications being added, changed, or discontinued are carefully evaluated. This is crucial to avoid medication errors and ensure patient safety.
For instance, during surgery, the healthcare team—comprising the surgeon, nurse, and anesthesia professional—reviews the key factors critical to the patient's recovery and care. This team not only confirms the patient's identity, the surgical site, and the planned procedure but also discusses anticipated critical events. This may include reviewing possible critical or unexpected steps, the duration of the operation, projecting blood loss, anesthetic concerns, equipment availability, and sterility confirmations.
This collaborative approach ensures that all team members are on the same page regarding the patient's care plan and minimizes the risk of adverse events. Medication reconciliation is a safety checkpoint to ensure continuity of care and optimize outcomes for the patient.