Table 3 Summary of healthcare professionals’ actions taken regarding medication evaluation (number of critical incidents = 208)

Yes, I made my latest real attempt at evaluation related to dementia medications, initiating Medication, and then I tried to perform that over the phone with the person’s wife. [Person22]

Monitor efficacy and adverse effects (5 + 20 = 25)

Perform day-to-day work (56)

Work with a plan (94)

And then I look at the value and adjust or plan based on yes, the need. [Person29]

Adjust treatment to individual needs (11 + 1 = 12)

Then I feed it back directly to the physician as well. So I naturally set a date and a day when I know the physician is present so we can do it at once. [Person16]

Report monitored result to others (0/11 = 11)

I have dictated the assessment in the medical record. I have asked to have a copy sent to the staff person responsible in home healthcare. [Person20]

Document what emerged at the follow-up (1 + 7 = 8)

Yes, but then I usually put it on my schedule. Let’s say she calls today and we agree on ‘Now you take Medication for a few days and then you weigh yourself and so on and then I’ll call you again on this date’. [Person10]

Book follow-up appointments (2 + 11 = 13)

Planning for continued treatment (38)

Then I send a message to the district nurse that ‘Can you check on this patient here…. with blood pressure [readings] in 2 and 4 days and see how it works’. [Person27]

Give instructions to colleagues (9 + 2 = 11)

I try to be careful about this nowadays, to note the blood pressure target in the medical record. // both for the patient’s sake, if they read their record themselves and also because we do have nurses who work with hypertension. So, if they see the patient, they can see in the medical record, what we are aiming for, so to speak. [Person24]

Share a plan for continued treatment (4/5 = 9)

Now when this [request for] prescription renewal comes in, he does have other pain medications too, but now it was precisely this Medication, then, then yes, then you renew it, without making any bigger deal out of it. [Person22]

Renew prescriptions (3/2 = 5)

But since I know the woman and know who she is, I call, to personally leave the information to her and get back [information] that it [the medication] does not work at all anyway because she has a huge stomach ache. [Person16]

Communicate with the older person/ their relative (7 + 16 = 23)

Involve the older person (57)

Collaborative problem-solving (114)

There we probably also fixed it, so she got a little more control over her medications. [Person6]

Simplify medication management (3 + 16 = 18)

I, we hand over the medication list and kind of go over it. Because there are quite a few patients who don’t always fully know why they take their medicines. [Person24]

Perform a medication reconciliation (4 + 4 = 8)

I can check the medication bag, I can ask questions about when to take the next medication dose or so. And then I get correct answers, so that it is a kind of follow-up you can actually carry out. [Person12]

Assess older persons ability to cope (2 + 6 = 8)

And she thinks she should take it that way, so one’s had to contact the physician and ask, ‘Is this really still relevant?’ [Person14]

Ask for instructions when there is no plan (0/14 = 14)

Communicate with colleagues (28)

Yes, and then she hands it over so the staff. And we talk to the caregiver staff when we’re there too. We obviously do that. But then one says this and another one says that. [Person17]

Discuss continued treatment with colleagues (1/6 = 7)

But then he accumulated fluid, called the cardiology clinic and said that... Because he goes for follow-up visits there and he may possibly need an earlier appointment than planned. [Person13]

Inform colleagues about detected medication related problems (0/7 = 7)

And then you notice by chance, when you go to review something else on her medication list, that this medication is still there. That she is still taking it and it hasn’t been de-prescribed. [Person14]

Alert medication related problems (6 + 5 = 11)

Finding a solution (29)

Then we made a short-term plan until tomorrow at least and so. // Tomorrow I will probably have enough time to call, you’ll have to put it on my schedule for tomorrow then. [Person5]

Make a plan when it is missing (3 + 8 = 11)

No, there was no [note]. I found no note on the indication for Medication. [Person19]

Search for information about plans (2 + 5 = 7)