When a patient is transferred from one patient care unit to another, a prescriber may write new medication orders. Before the actual transfer, a nurse or a pharmacist should look at the medication administration record and compare the medications the patient has been receiving on the sending unit against the medications in the transfer orders. Because some medications are not appropriate in every setting, comparing the two groups of medications is particularly important if the patient is moving from one level of care to another. (For example, some hospitals have policies that restrict the use of intravenous Dopamine to Intensive Care Units.) If any pre-transfer medication is not ordered again or explicitly declared to be inappropriate, a nurse or pharmacist should contact the patient’s physician. The physician should then either order the medication or formally confirm that the omission is deliberate.
