Nurse practitioner testing new prescription labels

Janice Holloway, a nurse practitioner, is providing medication education to diabetic and hypertensive patients at Bluffton Jasper Volunteers in Medicine Bluffton and Ridgeland clinics through a research project as part of her doctorate of nursing, according to a news release.

Holloway is testing a new kind of label for prescription bottles — one that offers pictograms for easier understanding of how to take the medication.

Holloway said compliance with prescribed medication regimens is a tremendous issue in health care because more responsibility is placed on the patient to seek and to understand information regarding their health. The reason patients aren’t taking their medications properly is typically due to visual impairments, literacy or language skills.

A grant provided through AccessHealth of the Lowcountry, said Pam Toney, BJVIM’s executive director, was used to purchase a label machine that Holloway uses to print easy-to-understand labels that instruct patients on what time of day to take their medications or whether or not they need to take them with food.

This story was originally published April 10, 2017 at 11:49 AM with the headline "Nurse practitioner testing new prescription labels."