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Zopicmo Essay

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Recently I identified an area of our medication policy that required some improvement due to the way that the list of medications were deemed as “controlled medications” and was such a comprehensive list that included medications that we do not use at our service along with medications that are deemed controlled by our own policies but not by government which then became restrictive to what time a service user could take their medication.
The medication in question is named zopiclone and it is used to treat individuals who are completing opiate detox to support with sleep. The new policy stated that this should be dispensed at 9pm and that the client was then required to go to bed which, for someone who was completing an opiate detox is …show more content…

As above and described in 5.3, on the back of the areas that were identified within the new medication policy and dispensing procedures I arranged a telephone conference with our head of quality department and some other managers from our other residential services to discuss the concerns that I had identified after reviewing the medication policy.
After lengthy discussions about the areas of concern and the potential risks that these presented both to staff and service users from a physical, mental and emotional perspective it was agreed that zopiclone was no longer to be classed as a controlled medication and that the service user could take this at a time of their choosing at night providing it was before the night worker finished dispensing medication which was usually about 111pm and agreed that the service user would need to go to bed within 15 minutes of taking this medication due to having a short timeframe of about 15-30 minutes where it is effective. It was also agreed that the service user would also be advised of this information to ensure that this is supportive to them through a physically difficult period whilst completing a detox.
In regards to the medication paperwork for PRN medication it was agreed that we would use our old medication dispensing form for PRN (when required) medications as this allowed staff to record the date, time and reason as to why the

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