Objective: The authors describe the concept of hospice formulary as is utilized at the hospice service of a university medical center.
Method: A periodic review of hospice formulary, focusing on psychotropic medications and delirium prevention, was accomplished in 2006. This effort represents a multidisciplinary effort among hospice nursing, internal medicine, and psychiatry.
Results: An updated formulary adopting contemporary psychopharmacologic best practices was produced and implemented along with targeted in-service training to nurse clinicians.
Significance of results: The modern hospice formulary offers opportunities to offer state-of-the-art psychopharmacological care and minimization of delirium through judicious use of psychopharmacological treatments for the psychiatric comorbidities common in terminally ill patients.