International Journal of Clinical Case Reports, 2026, Vol.16, No.1, 19-30 http://medscipublisher.com/index.php/ijccr 19 Research Insight Open Access The Role of Nurses in Medication Reconciliation, Patient Education, and Adherence Management Wei Shi 1*, Mingzi Huang2*, Yeli Huang3 1 Jingnan Medical Area, Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, Haidian, 100048, Beijing, China 2 Liuliqiao Outpatient Department, Jingnan Medical Area, Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, Southern Medical Branch of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Haidian, 10039, Beijing, China 3 The Sixth Medical Center, Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, Haidian, 100048, Beijing, China *These authors contributed equally to this work Corresponding author: huangyeli88@163.com International Journal of Clinical Case Reports 2026, Vol.16, No.1 doi: 10.5376/ijccr.2026.16.0003 Received: 09 Dec., 2025 Accepted: 15 Jan., 2026 Published: 28 Jan., 2026 Copyright © 2026 Shi et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Shi W., Huang M.Z., and Huang Y.L., 2026, The role of nurses in medication reconciliation, patient education, and adherence management, International Journal of Clinical Case Reports, 16(1): 19-30 (doi: 10.5376/ijccr.2026.16.0003) Abstract This study explored the core role of nursing staff in the drug safety management system. Nursing staff do not merely implement safety regulations; they also bear the core responsibilities of drug risk warning and prevention. In the drug verification process, nursing staff, through multiple duties such as prescription review, risk identification of medication use, and dynamic monitoring of high-risk drugs, build a crucial defense line to ensure the safety of patients' medication use. In the dimension of medication education, nursing staff, through the formulation of personalized guidance plans and the implementation of medication risk notification education, enhance patients' health literacy and self-care ability, and help them accelerate the recovery process. In the field of medication compliance management, nursing staff can significantly improve the long-term medication compliance level of patients with chronic diseases by establishing an efficient communication mechanism, implementing regular follow-up plans, and providing continuous nursing services. This study also analyzed the core challenges faced by nursing staff when conducting drug management work, and proposed that through strengthening professional training, improving the management system framework, and deepening interdisciplinary collaboration mechanisms, the role of nursing staff in the entire process of drug management can be guaranteed, which has important practical value and academic significance for improving the safety of drug treatment and optimizing clinical intervention effects. Keywords Nurses; Medication reconciliation; Patient education; Medication adherence; Medication safety management 1 Introduction In the daily clinical diagnosis and treatment work, the drug administration process usually involves multiple operational steps, such as prescribing, preparing the medication, bedside administration, and the transmission of medical orders, all of which are included. Any omission in any of these steps may lead to drug-related adverse events, thereby prolonging the hospital stay of patients, increasing the probability of readmission, and also increasing the overall medical expenses (Vasilevskis et al., 2025). In fact, various safety reports and international action initiatives have pointed out that in the "Drug Safety" special program implemented by the World Health Organization, the risk management and verification requirements emphasized are not merely for occasional operational mistakes by healthcare workers, but rather directly target the systematic loopholes in the medical service process. Therefore, improving the drug verification mechanism, strengthening the interdepartmental sharing and communication of drug-related information, and clearly explaining the medication methods and precautions to patients are all practical and effective measures to reduce the incidence of medication-related problems and even the risk of death caused by such problems. In the construction and operation of the drug safety management system, nursing staff always occupy a core position. They not only have the most frequent and close contact with patients, but also are the last line of defense for ensuring safety in the drug usage process. Relevant studies have shown that the specific job responsibilities of nursing staff vary depending on the working scenarios-whether in the tense emergency scene, during patient transfer or department referral, or in the long-term management of chronic diseases and palliative care, their responsibilities have differences.
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