Heading home after a stay in the hospital can be a risky time for patients using medication. For seniors especially, using sedatives in a highly monitored hospital setting is not without risk, but continued use at home could lead to falls, fractures, and rehospitalization.
Lisa Burry, clinician scientist at Mount Sinai Hospital, has focused her research on the safe use of medications for pain, sedation, and delirium in the intensive care unit (ICU). Her research will now extend beyond the walls of the ICU to ensure elderly patients stay safe from possible drug-induced side effects after returning home from a hospital stay that includes an ICU admission. Her research will examine outpatient prescriptions for this frail patient population in order to identify if sedatives, hypnotics, and antipsychotics are continued after an ICU admission and the associated risks of continuing these drugs in the community. The goal is to help create better guidelines for safe prescribing.
Lisa’s impressive work has been awarded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), recognizing her research expertise at a national level. With this grant, Lisa will be leading a multidisciplinary team to focus on better understanding best practices for use of sedatives, hypnotics and antipsychotics in critical care to minimize patient risks when transitioning back to home. Key stakeholders endorsing the work include the Canadian Patient Safety Institute, the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists, and the Canadian Deprescribing Network.
Andrew Wyllie, Manager, Sinai Health System Pharmacy Practice and Quality says “this CIHR grant enables Lisa’s research program to reconsider data from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, creating opportunities to identify rare but serious events that truly impact vulnerable patients.”
Site Research Lead at Sinai Health System, Dr. Michael Detsky also recognizes Lisa’s unique contribution and recognition, adding that “this is an amazing achievement by a valued member of our Intensive Care Unit team. Lisa has helped establish our unit as a site with multidisciplinary expertise in clinical research.”
Congratulations to Lisa for this recognition and her groundbreaking work in patient safety.