Medication safety in care: temperature monitoring

How an automated temperature monitoring solution ensures medication safety in care facilities

In addition to correct use, the safety of medicines depends to a large extent on correct storage. In order to maintain efficacy and avoid side effects, it is therefore essential to store medicines under optimal conditions and carefully monitor the temperature. Particularly in care facilities where vulnerable residents are cared for, there can be no compromises here. A digital and integrated temperature monitoring solution can make a decisive contribution here.

How should medication be stored?

Once the medicines have arrived, they must be moved immediately to the prescribed storage locations to ensure their effectiveness and protect them from unauthorised access. The temperature sensitivity varies depending on the type of medicine, so it is important to allocate them correctly to the appropriate storage locations. In general, there are three temperature ranges for transport and storage:

Strict adherence to these temperature specifications is necessary, as deviations can affect the stability of the medication and reduce its effectiveness. In order to ensure medication safety in care, facilities are obliged to check and document the storage temperatures on a daily basis.

Medication safety in care: the challenges of temperature monitoring

Temperature monitoring and documentation as part of medication safety in care is often done manually with pen and paper. This manual control is time-consuming and error-prone. The nursing staff must regularly check and document the temperature and react immediately in the event of deviations. However, a single daily measurement does not fully reflect the actual temperature profile. Short-term fluctuations or critical temperature deviations that occur between measurements often go unnoticed. In the stressful day-to-day care routine, it can also easily happen that a check is forgotten or a deviation is not noticed immediately. This significantly increases the risk for patients, as drug safety cannot be guaranteed at all times.

How automated temperature monitoring solutions increase safety

An automated temperature monitoring solution offers an automated and reliable method of monitoring the storage of medicines. By using wireless sensors that continuously monitor the temperature and report it in real time to centralised software, the entire process becomes more efficient and safer.

• Automatic monitoring around the clock: The sensors continuously monitor the temperature and automatically send the data to a central platform. Care staff no longer have to manually check the temperature.
• Immediate notification of deviations: If the temperature leaves the defined range, an alarm is triggered immediately. The nursing staff are informed immediately by text message, email or voice call notification and can act immediately to ensure the safety of the medication.
• Simple integration and operation: Modern temperature monitoring systems can be seamlessly integrated into the existing infrastructure and are easy to operate. Care facilities benefit from rapid implementation without time-consuming training or changeovers.

Automated temperature monitoring is an indispensable tool for care facilities to ensure medication safety. It not only protects the health of residents, but also relieves the burden on care staff and ensures reliable compliance with legal requirements. In times of digitalisation, this technology offers a future-proof solution that has already proven its worth in many care facilities.