Assessing medication prescribing errors in pediatric intensive care units

Benchmarking of medication incidents reporting and medication error rates in a JCI accredited university teaching hospital at a GCC country

Introduction

The benchmarking for medication incidents rate is not regarded as a recognized key performance measure or indicator in national or international organizations. The absence of benchmarking the medication incidents results in the loss of a self-governing perception of how well we performed compared to other peers.

Methodology and settings

This 600-bed tertiary, Joint Commission International (JCI) accredited hospital retrospective analysis looked at all medication management-related events from January-2018 to December-2021. The study design follows descriptive, cross-sectional, retrospective prevalence research.

Results

The rate of medication incidents that resulted in harm declined from Q3-2019 to Q4-2021. A significant increase in Pharmacy interventions/clarifications was recorded. Additionally, a significant increase in incidents reported with no-harm coupled with a significant reduction in incidences of serious events from 2019 to 2020. Finally, no-harm events were significantly reduced from 2020 to 2021.

Discussion

The Pharmacy's study analyzed every medication incident documented from 2019 to 2021. 99.7% of reported incidents were classified as no-harm (near misses). There was an exponential decrease from Q1-2020 to Q1-202. A significant increase in incidents fell in the category of (near misses) with no-harm and a significant reduction in serious events. Pharmacy interventions/clarifications saw a massive increase and impact from Q3-2018 to Q2-2019, compared to the same period in 2018. By preventing medical incidents, benchmarking, and analyzing incidents and the reporting system, the use of information technology could dramatically reduce the rate of drug incidents.

Conclusion

This study found that benchmarking medication incidents is valuable, as it can help identify areas where improvements can be made, implement strategies to improve safety, and track progress over time. The benchmark was recommended to be below 100 incidents for every 10,000 prescriptions/orders processed, and for E-I categories, below one incident for every 10,000 prescriptions/orders processed. This will help develop a worldwide standard with an absolved culture with non-punitive consequences.

Designing a bed-side system for predicting length of stay in a neonatal intensive care unit

Increased length of stay (LOS) in intensive care units is directly associated with the financial burden, anxiety, and increased mortality risks. In the current study, we have incorporated the association of day-to-day nutrition and medication data of the patient during its stay in hospital with its predicted LOS. To demonstrate the same, we developed a model to predict the LOS using risk factors (a) perinatal and antenatal details, (b) deviation of nutrition and medication dosage from guidelines, and (c) clinical diagnoses encountered during NICU stay. Data of 836 patient records (12 months) from two NICU sites were used and validated on 211 patient records (4 months). A bedside user interface integrated with EMR has been designed to display the model performance results on the validation dataset. The study shows that each gestation age group of patients has unique and independent risk factors associated with the LOS. The gestation is a significant risk factor for neonates < 34 weeks, nutrition deviation for < 32 weeks, and clinical diagnosis (sepsis) for ≥ 32 weeks. Patients on medications had considerable extra LOS for ≥ 32 weeks’ gestation. The presented LOS model is tailored for each patient, and deviations from the recommended nutrition and medication guidelines were significantly associated with the predicted LOS.

Prevalence of Medication Errors Among Paediatric Inpatients: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

INTRODUCTION

The risk of medication errors is high in paediatric inpatient settings. However, estimates of the prevalence of medication errors have not accounted for heterogeneity across studies in error identification methods and definitions, nor contextual differences across wards and the use of electronic or paper medication charts.

OBJECTIVE

Our aim was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to provide separate estimates of the prevalence of medication errors among paediatric inpatients, depending on hospital ward and the use of electronic or paper medication charts, that address differences in error identification methods and definitions.

METHODS

We systematically searched five databases to identify studies published between January 2000 and December 2018 that assessed medication error rates by medication chart audit, direct observation or a combination of methods.

RESULTS

We identified 71 studies, 19 involved paediatric wards using electronic charts. Most studies assessed prescribing errors with few studies assessing administration errors. Estimates varied by ward type. Studies of paediatric wards using electronic charts generally reported a reduced error prevalence compared to those using paper, although there were some inconsistencies. Error detection methods impacted the rate of administration errors in studies of multiple wards, however, no other difference was found. Definition of medication error did not have a consistent impact on reported error rates.

CONCLUSIONS

Medication errors are a frequent occurrence in paediatric inpatient settings, particularly in intensive care wards and emergency departments. Hospitals using electronic charts tended to have a lower rate of medication errors compared to those using paper charts. Future research employing controlled designs is needed to determine the true impact of electronic charts and other interventions on medication errors and associated harm among hospitalized children.

Prevalence and Nature of Medication Errors and Preventable Adverse Drug Events in Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Settings: A Systematic Review

INTRODUCTION

Children admitted to paediatric and neonatal intensive care units may be at high risk from medication errors and preventable adverse drug events.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this systematic review was to review empirical studies examining the prevalence and nature of medication errors and preventable adverse drug events in paediatric and neonatal intensive care units.

DATA SOURCES

Seven electronic databases were searched between January 2000 and March 2019.

STUDY SELECTION

Quantitative studies that examined medication errors/preventable adverse drug events using direct observation, medication chart review, or a mixture of methods in children ≤ 18 years of age admitted to paediatric or neonatal intensive care units were included.

DATA EXTRACTION

Data on study design, detection method used, rates and types of medication errors/preventable adverse drug events, and medication classes involved were extracted.

RESULTS

Thirty-five unique studies were identified for inclusion. In paediatric intensive care units, the median rate of medication errors was 14.6 per 100 medication orders (interquartile range 5.7-48.8%, n = 3) and between 6.4 and 9.1 per 1000 patient-days (n = 2). In neonatal intensive care units, medication error rates ranged from 4 to 35.1 per 1000 patient-days (n = 2) and from 5.5 to 77.9 per 100 medication orders (n = 2). In both settings, prescribing and medication administration errors were found to be the most common medication errors, with dosing errors the most frequently reported error subtype. Preventable adverse drug event rates were reported in three paediatric intensive care unit studies as 2.3 per 100 patients (n = 1) and 21-29 per 1000 patient-days (n = 2). In neonatal intensive care units, preventable adverse drug event rates from three studies were 0.86 per 1000 doses (n = 1) and 0.47-14.38 per 1000 patient-days (n = 2). Anti-infective agents were commonly involved with medication errors/preventable adverse drug events in both settings.

CONCLUSIONS

Medication errors occur frequently in critically ill children admitted to paediatric and neonatal intensive care units and may lead to patient harm. Important targets such as dosing errors and anti-infective medications were identified to guide the development of remedial interventions.

The Impact of Technology on Prescribing Errors in Pediatric Intensive Care: A Before and After Study

BACKGROUND

Increased use of health information technology (HIT) has been advocated as a medication error reduction strategy. Evidence of its benefits in the pediatric setting remains limited. In 2012, electronic prescribing (ICCA, Philips, United Kingdom) and standard concentration infusions (SCIs)-facilitated by smart-pump technology-were introduced into the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of an Irish tertiary-care pediatric hospital.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to assess the impact of the new technology on the rate and severity of PICU prescribing errors and identify technology-generated errors.

METHODS

A retrospective, before and after study design, was employed. Medication orders were reviewed over 24 weeks distributed across four time periods: preimplementation (Epoch 1); postimplementation of SCIs (Epoch 2); immediate postimplementation of electronic prescribing (Epoch 3); and 1 year postimplementation (Epoch 4). Only orders reviewed by a clinical pharmacist were included. Prespecified definitions, multidisciplinary consensus and validated grading methods were utilized.

RESULTS

A total of 3,356 medication orders for 288 patients were included. Overall error rates were similar in Epoch 1 and 4 (10.2 vs. 9.8%; p = 0.8), but error types differed (p < 0.001). Incomplete and wrong unit errors were eradicated; duplicate orders increased. Dosing errors remained most common. A total of 27% of postimplementation errors were technology-generated. Implementation of SCIs alone was associated with significant reductions in infusion-related prescribing errors (29.0% [Epoch 1] to 14.6% [Epoch 2]; p < 0.001). Further reductions (8.4% [Epoch 4]) were identified after implementation of electronically generated infusion orders. Non-infusion error severity was unchanged (p = 0.13); fewer infusion errors reached the patient (p < 0.01). No errors causing harm were identified.

CONCLUSION

The limitations of electronic prescribing in reducing overall prescribing errors in PICU have been demonstrated. The replacement of weight-based infusions with SCIs was associated with significant reductions in infusion prescribing errors. Technology-generated errors were common, highlighting the need for on-going research on HIT implementation in pediatric settings.

Pharmacotherapy in Critically Ill Children: A Retrospective Review of 17,199 Admissions

OBJECTIVES

Despite the ubiquitous role of pharmacotherapy in the care of critically ill children, descriptions of the extent of pharmacotherapy in critical illness are limited. Greater understanding of drug therapy can help identify clinically important associations and assist in the prioritization of efforts to address knowledge gaps. The objectives of this study were to describe the diversity, volume, and patterns of pharmacotherapy in critically ill children.

DESIGN

A retrospective cohort study was performed with patient admissions to the ICU between July 31, 2006, and July 31, 2015.

SETTING

The study took place at a single, free-standing, pediatric, quaternary center.

PATIENTS

Eligible patient admissions were admitted to the ICU for more than 6 hours and received one or more drug administration. There were a total 17,482 patient-admissions and after exclusion of 283 admissions (2%) with no documented enteral or parenteral drug administration, 17,199 eligible admissions were studied.

INTERVENTIONS

None.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

The 17,199 eligible admissions were admitted to the ICU for 2,208,475 hours and received 515 different drugs. The 1,954,171 administrations were 894,709 (45%) enteral administrations, 998,490 (51%) IV injections and 60,972 (3%) infusions. Infusions were administered for 4,476,538 hours. Twelve-thousand two-hundred seventy-three patients (71%) were administered five or more different drugs on 80,943 of patient days (75%). The 10 most commonly administered drugs comprised of 834,441 administrations (43%).

CONCLUSIONS

Drug administration in the ICU is complex, involves many medications, and the potential for drug interaction and reaction is compounded by the volume and diversity of therapies routinely provided in ICU. Further evaluation of polytherapy could be used to improve outcomes and enhance the safety of pharmacotherapy in critically ill children.

Exploring the human factors of prescribing errors in paediatric intensive care units

OBJECTIVE

To explore the factors contributing to prescribing error in paediatric intensive care units (PICUs) using a human factors approach based on Reason's theory of error causation to support planning of interventions to mitigate slips and lapses, rules-based mistakes and knowledge-based mistakes.

METHODS

A hierarchical task analysis (HTA) of prescribing was conducted using documentary analysis. Eleven semistructured interviews with prescribers were conducted using vignettes and were analysed using template analysis. Contributory factors were identified through the interviews and were related to tasks in the HTA by an expert panel involving a PICU clinician, nurse and pharmacist.

RESULTS

Prescribing in PICU is composed of 30 subtasks. Our findings indicate that cognitive burden was the main contributory factor of prescribing error. This manifested in two ways: physical, associated with fatigue, distraction and interruption, and poor information transfer; and psychological, related to inexperience, changing workload and insufficient decision support information. Physical burden was associated with errors of omission or selection; psychological burden was linked to errors related to a lack of knowledge and/or awareness. Social control through nursing staff was the only identified control step. This control was dysfunctional at times as nurses were part of an informal mechanism to support decision making, was ineffective.

CONCLUSIONS

Cognitive burden on prescribers is the principal latent factor contributing to prescribing error. This research suggests that interventions relating to skill mix, and communication and presentation of information may be effective at mitigating rule and knowledge-based mistakes. Mitigating fatigue and standardising procedures may minimise slips and lapses.

Preventable Adverse Drug Events Among Inpatients: A Systematic Review

: media-1vid110.1542/5799876436001PEDS-VA_2018-0805Video Abstract CONTEXT: Patient harm resulting from medication errors drives prevention efforts, yet harm associated with medication errors in children has not been systematically reviewed.

OBJECTIVE

To review the incidence and severity of preventable adverse drug events (pADEs) resulting from medication errors in pediatric inpatient settings.

DATA SOURCES

Data sources included Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Medline, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, and Embase.

STUDY SELECTION

Selected studies were published between January 2000 and December 2017, written in the English language, and measured pADEs among pediatric hospital inpatients by chart review or direct observation.

DATA EXTRACTION

Data extracted were medication error and harm definitions, pADE incidence and severity rates, items required for quality assessment, and sample details.

RESULTS

Twenty-two studies were included. For children in general pediatric wards, incidence was at 0 to 17 pADEs per 1000 patient days or 1.3% of medication errors (of any type) compared with 0 to 29 pADEs per 1000 patient days or 1.5% of medication errors in ICUs. Hospital-wide studies contained reports of up to 74 pADEs per 1000 patient days or 2.6% of medication errors. The severity of pADEs was mainly minor.

LIMITATIONS

Limited literature on the severity of pADEs is available. Additional study will better illuminate differences among hospital wards and among those with or without health information technology.

CONCLUSIONS

Medication errors in pediatric settings seldom result in patient harm, and if they do, harm is predominantly of minor severity. Implementing health information technologies was associated with reduced incidence of harm.

Pharmacy quality improvement project to enhance the medication management process in pediatric patients

BACKGROUND

Improvement in the quality of the medication management process is a crucial component of twenty-first-century medicine.

AIM

To improve the quality of medication management process within pediatric specialty through designing a quality improvement project for the pharmaceutical care services in a children' hospital to solve the drug-related problems during drug prescribing, administration, and monitoring.

METHODS

A total of 900 medical files were evaluated (100 file/month) from the pediatric medical ward to detect any medication errors during prescribing, administration, or monitoring of the drugs. Three pharmacy quality indicators were designed to detect any medication errors during prescribing, administration, or monitoring of the drugs, then a collective datasheet was designed to record any defect in the system during drug management process within the hospital. A quality improvement project was designed using many quality improvement techniques to decrease the rates of medication errors in each drug handling stage. Brainstorming, fishbone chart, questionnaire, and voting were the main quality tools used to detect the causes of medication errors problem in pediatric patients. Certain actions were implemented which included educational program, implementation of clinical pharmacy, intravenous admixture, and drug information services.

RESULTS

The quality improvement interventions succeeded in decreasing the rates of medication errors in each stage. These interventions succeeded in decreasing the rates of medication errors in prescribing, administration, and monitoring stages from 47, 60, and 56% respectively to ≤ 15% within 9 months.

CONCLUSION

Pharmacists can have a key role in improving the health-care system's quality in developing countries' health-care systems.

Interventions to reduce medication errors in neonatal care: a systematic review

Background

Medication errors represent a significant but often preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in neonates. The objective of this systematic review was to determine the effectiveness of interventions to reduce neonatal medication errors.

Methods

A systematic review was undertaken of all comparative and noncomparative studies published in any language, identified from searches of PubMed and EMBASE and reference-list checking. Eligible studies were those investigating the impact of any medication safety interventions aimed at reducing medication errors in neonates in the hospital setting.

Results

A total of 102 studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria, including 86 comparative and 16 noncomparative studies. Medication safety interventions were classified into six themes: technology (n = 38; e.g. electronic prescribing), organizational (n = 16; e.g. guidelines, policies, and procedures), personnel (n = 13; e.g. staff education), pharmacy (n = 9; e.g. clinical pharmacy service), hazard and risk analysis (n = 8; e.g. error detection tools), and multifactorial (n = 18; e.g. any combination of previous interventions). Significant variability was evident across all included studies, with differences in intervention strategies, trial methods, types of medication errors evaluated, and how medication errors were identified and evaluated. Most studies demonstrated an appreciable risk of bias. The vast majority of studies (>90%) demonstrated a reduction in medication errors. A similar median reduction of 50-70% in medication errors was evident across studies included within each of the identified themes, but findings varied considerably from a 16% increase in medication errors to a 100% reduction in medication errors.

Conclusion

While neonatal medication errors can be reduced through multiple interventions aimed at improving the medication use process, no single intervention appeared clearly superior. Further research is required to evaluate the relative cost-effectiveness of the various medication safety interventions to facilitate decisions regarding uptake and implementation into clinical practice.

Occurrence of Potential Adverse Drug Events from Prescribing Errors in a Pediatric Intensive and High Dependency Unit in Hong Kong: An Observational Study

BACKGROUND

Critically ill pediatric patients are considered at high risk for medication errors. Although much research focuses on the actual errors, equally important are medication errors that, although intercepted, carried the potential for an adverse drug event. The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of prescribing errors and potential adverse drug events (pADEs) in a local pediatric intensive and critical care unit (PICU) in Hong Kong. Our secondary objective was to determine the type of error, nature of medication involved and the time of error occurrence.

METHODS

We conducted a prospective observational chart review among patients in a pediatric intensive and high dependency unit between January 16, 2015 and April 20, 2015. Medical charts for each patient were reviewed for the occurrence of a prescribing error or pADE. Each pADE was assessed for the type of error, the classification of agent involved, clinical severity of the error, and the time the error occurred.

RESULTS

Forty-one patients with a mean age of 3.2 years were included in our study. Of these patients, 19 (46.3%) experienced at least one pADE. We identified 131 pADEs, 129 of which were prescribing errors conferring a rate of 6.8 errors per affected patient or 3.1 errors per patient admitted to the PICU. The most common error found in the study was incorrect dose calculation (48.1%), with intravenous fluids (41.7%), cardiovascular agents (15.0%), and anti-infectives (12.5%) the most common agents involved with an error. The majority of the pADEs in our study were either clinically serious (33.1%) or significant (44.9%) in nature. Nearly one in every four errors required monitoring and/or intervention to prevent harm, and almost all (96.9%) of the prescribing errors were intercepted before reaching the patient.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights incorrect dose calculation as the most common prescribing error in a pediatric critical care setting. Intravenous fluids, cardiovascular agents, and anti-infectives were the classes of medication most commonly involved with a pADE. Due to the high-risk nature of medications used and the critical condition of these patients, more than three-quarters of pADEs were considered to be clinically serious or significant in causing patient harm.

Implementing a Distraction-Free Practice With the Red Zone Medication Safety Initiative

BACKGROUND

The incidence of medication errors remains a continued concern across the spectrum of health care. Approaches to averting medication errors and implementing a culture of safety are key areas of focus for most institutions. We describe our experience of implementing a distraction-free medication safety practice across a large free-standing children's hospital.

METHODS

A nurse-led interprofessional group was convened to develop a program-wide quality improvement process for the practice of medication safety. A key driver diagram was developed to guide the Red Zone Medication Safety initiative. Change acceleration process was used to evaluate the implementation and impact of the initiative.

RESULTS

Since implementation in 2010, there has been a significant reduction in medication events of 79.2% (P = .00184) and 65.3% (P = .035) (in the cardiac intensive care unit and acute care cardiac unit, respectively), including months with unprecedented zero reportable medication events. There also has been a sustained decrease in the number of events reaching the patient (33.3% in the cardiac intensive care unit and 57.1% in the acute care cardiac unit).

CONCLUSIONS

The implementation of a distraction-free practice was found to be feasible and effective, demonstrating a sustained decrease in the overall number of medication events, event rate, and number of events reaching patients. This interprofessional approach was successful in a large inpatient cardiovascular program and then effectively transferred across all hospital inpatient units. Additional sites of implementation include other high-risk patient care areas such as procedure/operative units.

Assessment of a Clinical Pharmacy Activity in a Pediatric Inpatient Department in Cote D'ivoire

BACKGROUND

Clinical pharmacy activities in a pediatric inpatient department help to improve the management of patients clinically and economically.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the relevance of pharmaceutical interventions (PIs) in a pediatric inpatient department in Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We carried out a cross-sectional, descriptive study from February to September 2014. The information collected was classified according to the classification of drug-related problems (DRPs) and PIs of the French Society of Clinical Pharmacy. The score assigned to each PI varied from PI0 (without direct clinical impact) to PI3 (vital clinical impact) as the importance of the potential clinical impact of the DRP was correlated to the severity of clinical consequences avoided by the PI. The relevance of PIs was assessed by their rate of acceptance by physicians and by the analysis of their clinical impact.

RESULTS

A total of 116 PIs were performed with 31% performed during medical rounds, 68.1% during patients' records analysis, and 0.1% on patient's admission. The main DRPs were related to noncompliance with recommendations (24.1%), overdose (21.1%), and underdosing (13.8%). The most important PIs were dose adjustment (31.8%), accuracy of drugs administration modalities (29.3%), and proposals of therapeutic choice (27.6%). The acceptance rate of PIs was highly significant (94.8%). The majority of PIs (67.3%) was assessed as having a significant clinical impact (PI1) and 16.4% of PIs as very significant clinical impact (PI2). A single PI (0.9%) was found with vital clinical impact.

CONCLUSION

PIs performed were relevant and contributed to the therapeutic optimization and the prevention of iatrogenic events in pediatric inpatients.

Reduction of medication errors in a pediatric cardiothoracic intensive care unit

Medication errors resulting in patient harm were reduced from 33 in 2010 to 3 in 2011, 6 in 2012, and 4 in 2013 by initiating the following quality improvement interventions: multidisciplinary cardiothoracic intensive care unit quality committee, nursing education, shift change medication double check, medication error huddles, safety systems checklist, distraction-free zone to enter orders, and medication bar coding.

Analysis of medication prescribing errors in critically ill children

Medication prescribing errors (MPE) can result in serious consequences for patients. In order to reduce errors, we need to know more about the frequency, the type and the severity of such errors. We therefore performed a prospective observational study to determine the number and type of medication prescribing errors in critically ill children in a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Prescribing errors were prospectively identified by a clinical pharmacist. A total of 1129 medication orders were analysed. There were 151 prescribing errors, giving an overall error rate of 14 % (95 % CI 11 to 16). The medication groups with the highest proportion of MPEs were antihypertensives, antimycotics and drugs for nasal preparation with error rates of each 50 %, followed by antiasthmatic drugs (25 %), antibiotics (15 %) and analgesics (14 %). One hundred four errors (70 %) were classified as MPEs which required interventions and/or resulted in patient harm equivalent to 9 % of all medication orders (95 % CI 6.5 to 14.4). Forty-five MPEs (30 %) did not result in patient harm.

CONCLUSION

With a view to reduce MPEs and to improve patient safety, our data may help to prevent errors before they occur.

WHAT IS KNOWN

• Prescribing errors may be the most frequent medication errors. • In paediatric populations, the incidence of prescribing errors is higher than in adults. What is New: • Several risk factors for medication prescribing errors, such as medication groups, long PICU stay, and mechanical ventilation could be presented. • Analysing the combination of the most frequent prescribing errors and the severity of these errors.

Measuring the severity of prescribing errors: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Prescribing errors are common. It has been suggested that the severity as well as the frequency of errors should be assessed when measuring prescribing error rates. This would provide more clinically relevant information, and allow more complete evaluation of the effectiveness of interventions designed to reduce errors.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this systematic review was to describe the tools used to assess prescribing error severity in studies reporting hospital prescribing error rates.

DATA SOURCES

The following databases were searched: MEDLINE, EMBASE, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, and CINAHL (January 1985-January 2013).

STUDY SELECTION

We included studies that reported the detection and rate of prescribing errors in prescriptions for adult and/or pediatric hospital inpatients, or elaborated on the properties of severity assessment tools used by these studies. Studies not published in English, or that evaluated errors for only one disease or drug class, one route of administration, or one type of prescribing error, were excluded, as were letters and conference abstracts. One reviewer screened all abstracts and obtained complete articles. A second reviewer assessed 10 % of all abstracts and complete articles to check reliability of the screening process.

APPRAISAL

Tools were appraised for country and method of development, whether the tool assessed actual or potential harm, levels of severity assessed, and results of any validity and reliability studies.

RESULTS

Fifty-seven percent of 107 studies measuring prescribing error rates included an assessment of severity. Forty tools were identified that assessed severity, only two of which had acceptable reliability and validity. In general, little information was given on the method of development or ease of use of the tools, although one tool required four reviewers and was thus potentially time consuming.

LIMITATIONS

The review was limited to studies written in English. One of the review authors was also the author of one of the tools, giving a potential source of bias.

CONCLUSION

A wide range of severity assessment tools are used in the literature. Developing a basis of comparison between tools would potentially be helpful in comparing findings across studies. There is a potential need to establish a less time-consuming method of measuring severity of prescribing error, with acceptable international reliability and validity.

Influence of a systems-based approach to prescribing errors in a pediatric resident clinic

OBJECTIVE

To measure the difference in prescribing error rates between 2 clinics, 1 with a system in place to reduce errors and 1 with no such system; to determine variables that affect the likelihood of prescription errors.

METHODS

This was a retrospective study at 2 university-based general pediatric clinics utilizing the same electronic medical record (EMR) system. Clinic 1 employed pharmacists who provided daily prescription review, provider feedback and education, and EMR customization to decrease errors. Clinic 2 had no systems in place for reducing prescribing errors. Prescriptions written by resident physicians over 2 months were identified and reviewed.

RESULTS

A total of 1361 prescriptions were reviewed, 40.7% from clinic 1 and 59.3% from clinic 2. Errors were found in 201 prescriptions (14.8%). Clinics 1 and 2 had error rates of 11% and 17.5%, respectively (P = .0012). The odds of a prescription error at clinic 2 were 1.7 times the odds of a prescription error at clinic 1. Logistic regression identified clinic, nonpediatric resident, liquid dose forms, and younger patient age as significant predictors of prescription errors. Half of the errors could have been prevented with consistent use of a custom medication list within the EMR.

CONCLUSIONS

We found 37% fewer prescribing errors in a clinic with systems in place for prescribing error detection and prevention. Pediatric clinics should explore systematic procedures for identifying, resolving, and providing education about prescribing errors to reduce patient risk.

Interventions to reduce pediatric medication errors: a systematic review

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Medication errors cause appreciable morbidity and mortality in children. The objective was to determine the effectiveness of interventions to reduce pediatric medication errors, identify gaps in the literature, and perform meta-analyses on comparable studies.

METHODS

Relevant studies were identified from searches of PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing Allied Health Literature and previous systematic reviews. Inclusion criteria were peer-reviewed original data in any language testing an intervention to reduce medication errors in children. Abstract and full-text article review were conducted by 2 independent authors with sequential data extraction.

RESULTS

A total of 274 full-text articles were reviewed and 63 were included. Only 1% of studies were conducted at community hospitals, 11% were conducted in ambulatory populations, 10% reported preventable adverse drug events, 10% examined administering errors, 3% examined dispensing errors, and none reported cost-effectiveness data, suggesting persistent research gaps. Variation existed in the methods, definitions, outcomes, and rate denominators for all studies; and many showed an appreciable risk of bias. Although 26 studies (41%) involved computerized provider order entry, a meta-analysis was not performed because of methodologic heterogeneity. Studies of computerized provider order entry with clinical decision support compared with studies without clinical decision support reported a 36% to 87% reduction in prescribing errors; studies of preprinted order sheets revealed a 27% to 82% reduction in prescribing errors.

CONCLUSIONS

Pediatric medication errors can be reduced, although our understanding of optimal interventions remains hampered. Research should focus on understudied areas, use standardized definitions and outcomes, and evaluate cost-effectiveness.

Interventions to reduce medication errors in pediatric intensive care

OBJECTIVE

To systematically examine the research literature to identify which interventions reduce medication errors in pediatric intensive care units.

DATA SOURCES

Databases were searched from inception to April 2014.

STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION

Studies were included if they involved the conduct of an intervention with the intent of reducing medication errors.

DATA SYNTHESIS

In all, 34 relevant articles were identified. Apart from 1 study, all involved single-arm, before-and-after designs without a comparative, concurrent control group. A total of 6 types of interventions were utilized: computerized physician order entry (CPOE), intravenous systems (ISs), modes of education (MEs), protocols and guidelines (PGs), pharmacist involvement (PI), and support systems for clinical decision making (SSCDs). Statistically significant reductions in medication errors were achieved in 7/8 studies for CPOE, 2/5 studies for ISs, 9/11 studies for MEs, 1/2 studies for PGs, 2/3 studies for PI, and 3/5 studies for SSCDs. The test for subgroup differences showed that there was no statistically significant difference among the 6 subgroups of interventions, χ(2)(5) = 1.88, P = 0.87. The following risk ratio results for meta-analysis were obtained: CPOE: 0.47 (95% CI = 0.28, 0.79); IS: 0.37 (95% CI = 0.19, 0.73); ME: 0.36 (95% CI = 0.22, 0.58); PG: 0.82 (95% CI = 0.21, 3.25); PI: 0.39 (95% CI = 0.10, 1.51), and SSCD: 0.49 (95% CI = 0.23, 1.03).

CONCLUSIONS

Available evidence suggests some aspects of CPOE with decision support, ME, and IS may help in reducing medication errors. Good quality, prospective, observational studies are needed for institutions to determine the most effective interventions.

Evaluation of the medication process in pediatric patients: a meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

to meta-analyze studies that have assessed the medication errors rate in pediatric patients during prescribing, dispensing, and drug administration.

SOURCES

searches were performed in the PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Trip databases, selecting articles published in English from 2001 to 2010.

SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS

a total of 25 original studies that met inclusion criteria were selected, which referred to pediatric inpatients or pediatric patients in emergency departments aged 0-16 years, and assessed the frequency of medication errors in the stages of prescribing, dispensing, and drug administration.

CONCLUSIONS

the combined medication error rate for prescribing errors to medication orders was 0.175 (95% Confidence Interval: [CI] 0.108-0.270), the rate of prescribing errors to total medication errors was 0.342 (95% CI: 0.146-0.611), that of dispensing errors to total medication errors was 0.065 (95% CI: 0.026-0.154), and that ofadministration errors to total medication errors was 0.316 (95% CI: 0.148-0.550). Furthermore, the combined medication error rate for administration errors to drug administrations was 0.209 (95% CI: 0.152-0.281). Medication errors constitute a reality in healthcare services. The medication process is significantly prone to errors, especially during prescription and drug administration. Implementation of medication error reduction strategies is required in order to increase the safety and quality of pediatric healthcare.

[Integration of a hospital pharmacist in the ICU]

The French regulatory system strongly encourages strict regulation of health products' production and distribution, especially concerning risk management and economic aspects. An ICU is an unusual environment for a local pharmacy practice (a nurse for every 2.5 patients, continuous adaptation of therapeutics…). However, a literature review reports interesting data concerning risk management and economics. This article aims to relate the experience of a pharmacist integration in a French teaching hospital ICU (half-time position).

Paediatric nurses' adherence to the double-checking process during medication administration in a children's hospital: an observational study

AIM

To evaluate how closely double-checking policies are followed by nurses in paediatric areas and also to identify the types, frequency and rates of medication administration errors that occur despite the double-checking process.

BACKGROUND

Double-checking by two nurses is an intervention used in many UK hospitals to prevent or reduce medication administration errors. There is, however, insufficient evidence to either support or refute the practice of double-checking in terms of medication error risk reduction.

DESIGN

Prospective observational study.

METHODS

This was a prospective observational study of paediatric nurses' adherence to the double-checking process for medication administration from April-July 2012.

RESULTS

Drug dose administration events (n = 2000) were observed. Independent drug dose calculation, rate of administering intravenous bolus drugs and labelling of flush syringes were the steps with lowest adherence rates. Drug dose calculation was only double-checked independently in 591 (30%) drug administrations. There was a statistically significant difference in nurses' adherence rate to the double-checking steps between weekdays and weekends in nine of the 15 evaluated steps. Medication administration errors (n = 191) or deviations from policy were observed, at a rate of 9·6% of drug administrations. These included 64 drug doses, which were left for parents to administer without nurse observation.

CONCLUSION

There was variation between paediatric nurses' adherence to double-checking steps during medication administration. The most frequent type of administration errors or deviation from policy involved the medicine being given to the parents to administer to the child when the nurse was not present.

Profile of prescribing errors detected by clinical pharmacists in paediatric hospitals in Spain

BACKGROUND

Pharmaceutical care involves three essential functions: identifying potential and real medication-related problems, solving real medication-related problems and preventing potential medication related problems.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the profile of prescribing errors detected and prevented by paediatric clinical pharmacists in medical orders for inpatients in Spain.

SETTINGS AND METHODS

A prospective, descriptive, multicentre epidemiological study on medical orders for inpatients aged 1 day to 18 years, conducted between July and October 2011 at eight hospitals treating paediatric patients.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

primary variables were most common errors, including clinical severity (according to a previously validated instrument), pharmacotherapeutic groups and drugs most commonly involved, the impact of pharmaceutical interventions, as well as the population receiving most interventions, and type of prescription (manual of electronic) and dispensation system (ward stock, unit-dose or automated dispensing cabinets) that are most involved in Spain.

RESULTS

A total of 667 interventions related to quality of the prescription were recorded at eight sites. 21 were excluded. 41.2 % concerned manual prescribing systems, and 58.8 % electronic prescribing systems. The interventions were performed on patients with a mean age of 5 years (standard deviation 5.43). In interventions concerning prescribing errors, 212 different drugs were involved, mainly belonging to the group of anti-infectives. The main factor triggering pharmacist's recommendations was dose errors of 1.5-10 times the recommended dose. Therefore, the main prescription errors are dosing errors (49.3 %). With regard to the clinical severity of these prescribing errors, 51.9 % (306 cases) were considered significant, 26.3 % (155 cases) of minor significance, 19.8 (117 cases) were clinically serious and 2.0 % (12 cases) were potentially fatal. There was a 95.4 % global acceptance rate for recommendations. The impact of accepted interventions showed that 64.7 % had a significant impact on patient health outcome, highlighting 1.1 % with a highly significant impact. The activity level of the paediatric clinical pharmacists was highly variable, with a median of 0.014 interventions/bed-day during the data collection period.

CONCLUSION

In view of the importance of the dosing errors in the prescription phase, and the clinical relevance of the errors detected, it seems to be necessary to implement measures as the development of decision support systems for paediatric dosing and strengthen the presence of pharmacists as a key element in preventing prescribing errors from reaching patients, thus ensuring that children receive effective, safe and efficient drug therapy.

Drug Utilization in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: Monitoring Prescribing Trends and Establishing Prioritization of Pharmacotherapeutic Evaluation of Critically Ill Children

The primary objective of this study was to characterize the drug exposure for children hospitalized in the authors' institution's pediatric intensive care unit for the year 2002. Secondary objectives included the examination of drug utilization differences among various age criteria and the suitability of the most prevalent resources for pediatric dosing guidance. Many of the most commonly prescribed agents in the pediatric intensive care unit fall into the broad categories of pain management/sedation and anti-infectives. Based on the generally narrow windows afforded by each of these drug classes, it is obvious that more, well-defined investigations in critically ill children are warranted. The existing dosing guidance for many of these agents is neither generalizable nor sufficient to accommodate the diversity in pediatric intensive care unit patients, and the current drug monographs fall short of any practical dosing information.

Computerized provider order entry and patient safety

Medication errors can lead to significant morbidity and mortality for patients. Children are particularly vulnerable to medication errors. A strategy for reducing medication errors and the harm resulting from these errors is use of computerized provider order entry (CPOE). This article examines the frequency and nature of prescribing errors for pediatric patients. Also discussed are the proposed benefits from CPOE use, including elimination of eligibility errors, ensuring completeness in prescribing fields, reduction in transcription errors, and improved prescribing practices through the use of clinical decision support. The literature on the effect of CPOE in actual use is explored, as are policy implications and directions for future research.

Reducing mortality related to adverse events in children

Since the launch of the 100,000 Lives Campaign by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), preventing medical adverse events to reduce avoidable mortality has emerged as a central focus for health care providers, institutions, regulators, insurance companies, and patients. Evidence-based interventions targeting the 6 interventions in the campaign have been associated with a reduction in preventable hospital deaths in the United States. The generalizability of the IHI's campaign to the pediatric population is only partly applicable. Pediatric experiences with rapid response teams and preventing central-line infections parallel the published experience of adults, with promise to significantly reduce preventable pediatric mortality.

Impact of an intervention to reduce prescribing errors in a pediatric intensive care unit

PURPOSE

To identify and reduce medication prescribing errors in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) by means of an educational program designed to improve medical prescriptions.

METHODS

Before-after interventional study in a tertiary-level PICU. Handwritten prescriptions were prospectively collected: 2,228 during period 1 and 1,791 during period 2. In both periods elements of good prescribing practice including error indicators and quality indicators were studied. The interventional program included four measures: standardization of prescription sources, pocket tables with dosing guidelines, an updated prescription protocol, and an educational program on correct prescribing.

RESULTS

The prescribing error (PE) rate decreased from 34.2 to 21.7 % after the intervention. Lack of administration route was considered separately for its high prevalence, 30 and 20.8 % of prescriptions, respectively. The most frequent error was presence of some illegible element (59 %). Legibility was the element of prescription experiencing the greatest reduction in error rate, from 4.1 % of prescriptions with one or more illegible elements in period 1 to 0.2 % in period 2. Tenfold overdosage decreased from two cases in period 1 to one case in period 2. The attending physician and on-call physician were associated with more PEs in both periods. The number of prescriptions with two or more errors decreased from 3.1 to 0.7 %. Errors reaching the patient were scarce, 14 (0.63 %) in period 1 and 6 (0.34 %) in period 2, without adverse events.

CONCLUSIONS

Implementation of an educational program for physicians may significantly reduce the prescribing error rate in a PICU.

Terms used in patient safety related to medication: a literature review

PURPOSE

There is a lack of homogeneity in the terminology used in the context of patient safety related to medication. The aim of this review was to identify the terms and definitions used in patient safety related to medication within the scientific literature.

METHODS

Original and review articles that were indexed between 1998 and 2008 in MEDLINE and EMBASE and contained terms used in patient safety related to medication were included. Terms and definitions were extracted and categorised according to whether its definition referred to the process of medication use, or to the clinical outcome of medication use, or both.

RESULTS

Of 2564 articles, 147 were included. Sixty terms used in patient safety related to medication with 189 different definitions were identified. Among terms that referred only to the process of medication use (n = 23), medication error provided the greatest number of definitions (n = 29). Among terms that referred only to the clinical outcome of medication use (n = 31), adverse drug event provided the greatest number of definitions (n = 15). Finally, among terms that referred both to the process of use and to the clinical outcome of medication use (n = 13), drug-related problem provided the greatest number of definitions (n = 7).

CONCLUSIONS

A multitude of terms and definitions are used in patient safety related to medication. This heterogeneity makes it difficult to compare the results among studies and to appreciate the true magnitude of the problem. Classifying and unifying the terminology is necessary to advance in patient safety strategies.

Prescribing errors intercepted by clinical pharmacists in paediatrics and obstetrics in a tertiary hospital in Spain

PURPOSE

To assess the main differences in clinical significance of the prescribing errors intercepted by clinical pharmacists in paediatrics and obstetrics and the reasons for these prescribing errors, as well as the differences in pharmacists' activity indicators.

METHODS

The was a cross-sectional epidemiological study analysing the activities of paediatric pharmacists in a maternity and children's hospital with 180 paediatric beds and 138 obstetrics and gynaecology beds between January 2007 and December 2009. The following variables were analysed: clinical significance of prescribing errors intercepted, reason for the error, impact of the intervention by pharmacist, acceptance rate of the recommendation made, medication involved, intervention detection date and observations.

RESULTS

A total of 2,449 interventions in medical orders were recorded. Interventions that were not accepted by doctors were excluded, leaving 43 cases (2.1%) of extremely significant interventions and 170 (8.4%) very significant interventions. Interventions in what were deemed to be error-free situations were excluded. Significance testing (based on 2,035 errors detected) showed that 1.7% of the detected errors were potentially lethal (35 cases), while 10.2% (210 cases) were clinically serious. The main reason for the interventions was the detection of a dosage between 1.5- and tenfold higher than the recommended dosage. The overall rate of acceptance of the pharmacist's suggestions was 92.2%. Pharmacists carried out an average of 0.016 interventions/patient-day throughout the study period.

CONCLUSIONS

Paediatric patients had a fourfold higher risk of serious errors than the maternity population. Pharmacist intervention had a major impact on reducing prescribing errors in the study period, thus improving the quality and efficiency of care provided.

Response to medication dosing alerts for pediatric inpatients using a computerized provider order entry system

OBJECTIVE

Medication dosing errors are of particular concern in hospitalized children. Avoidance of such errors is essential to quality improvement and patient safety. Computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems with clinical decision support (CDS) have the potential to reduce medication errors. The objective of this study was to evaluate provider response to the dosing alerts in a CPOE system with CDS for pediatric inpatients and to identify differences in provider response based on clinician specialty.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We conducted a retrospective analysis of all medication dosing alerts over a 1-year period (January 1 through December 31, 2008) for all pediatric inpatients at Hospital for Special Surgery. Alerts were analyzed with respect to medication dosing, prescriber, and action taken by the prescriber after the alert was triggered (i.e., accepted suggested change, ignored recommendation/overrode, or cancelled the order).

RESULTS

During the study period, 18,163 medication orders were placed and 1,024 dosing alerts were fired. Overdosing of medications accounted for 91% of the alerts and underdosing 9%. The pediatric-trained providers ignored more alerts and cancelled fewer orders than the non-pediatric-trained providers (p<0.001). Both groups changed the order similarly based on CDS recommendations.

CONCLUSIONS

Differences in response to CDS were found between pediatric-trained and non-pediatric-trained providers caring for pediatric patients; however, both groups changed orders based on CDS similarly. CPOE with built-in CDS may be of particular value when providers with different specialties and types of training are caring for pediatric patients.

Reducing prescribing errors in the paediatric intensive care unit: an experience from Egypt

AIM

To investigate the impact of different measures, implemented by clinical pharmacists, on prescribing error rates in a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in Cairo, Egypt.

METHODS

We performed a pre-post study of prescribing errors in a 12 bed PICU. We utilized a chart review method for the detection of prescribing errors. The rate and potential severity of prescribing errors were determined before and then after the implementation of the medication error reducing measures. These measures included the use of a new structured medication order chart, physician education, provision of dosing assists and physician performance feedback.

RESULTS

We evaluated 1417 medication orders for 139 patients preintervention and 1097 orders for 101 patients postintervention. Of preintervention orders, 1107 (78.1%) had at least one prescribing error. The intervention resulted in significant reduction in prescribing error rate to 35.2% postintervention (p < 0.001). The intervention resulted also in a significant reduction in the rate of potentially severe errors from 29.7% preintervention to 7% postintervention (p < 0.001) and the rate of potentially moderate errors from 39.8% preintervention to 24.2% postintervention (p < 0.001). Besides, rates of all types of prescribing errors were declined to different degrees as a result of the intervention.

CONCLUSION

Clinical pharmacists' activities, focusing on improving physician-nurse communication, physician drug knowledge and awareness of errors, were shown effective in reducing the rate of prescribing errors and their potential severity in a PICU.

What is the value and impact of quality and safety teams? A scoping review

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study was to conduct a scoping review of the literature about the establishment and impact of quality and safety team initiatives in acute care.

METHODS

Studies were identified through electronic searches of Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ABI Inform, Cochrane databases. Grey literature and bibliographies were also searched. Qualitative or quantitative studies that occurred in acute care, describing how quality and safety teams were established or implemented, the impact of teams, or the barriers and/or facilitators of teams were included. Two reviewers independently extracted data on study design, sample, interventions, and outcomes. Quality assessment of full text articles was done independently by two reviewers. Studies were categorized according to dimensions of quality.

RESULTS

Of 6,674 articles identified, 99 were included in the study. The heterogeneity of studies and results reported precluded quantitative data analyses. Findings revealed limited information about attributes of successful and unsuccessful team initiatives, barriers and facilitators to team initiatives, unique or combined contribution of selected interventions, or how to effectively establish these teams.

CONCLUSIONS

Not unlike systematic reviews of quality improvement collaboratives, this broad review revealed that while teams reported a number of positive results, there are many methodological issues. This study is unique in utilizing traditional quality assessment and more novel methods of quality assessment and reporting of results (SQUIRE) to appraise studies. Rigorous design, evaluation, and reporting of quality and safety team initiatives are required.

Medication prescribing errors in a pediatric inpatient tertiary care setting in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND

Medication errors (MEs) are among the most common types of medical errors and one of the most common and preventable causes of iatrogenic injuries. The aims of the present study were; (i) to determine the incidence and types of medication prescribing errors (MPEs), and (ii) to identify some potential risk factors in a pediatric inpatient tertiary care setting in Saudi Arabia.

FINDINGS

A five-week retrospective cohort study identified medication errors in the general pediatric ward and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC) through the physical inspection of physician medication orders and reviews of patients' files. Out of the 2,380 orders examined, the overall error rate was 56 per 100 medication orders (95% CI: 54.2%, 57.8%). Dose errors were the most prevalent (22.1%). These were followed by route errors (12.0%), errors in clarity (11.4%) and frequency errors (5.4%). Other types of errors were incompatibility (1.9%), incorrect drug selection (1.7%) and duplicate therapy (1%). The majority of orders (81.8%) had one or more abbreviations. Error rates were highest in prescriptions for electrolytes (17.17%), antibiotics (13.72%) and bronchodilators (12.97%). Medication prescription errors occurred more frequently in males (64.5%), infants (44.5%) and for medications with an intravenous route of administration (50.2%). Approximately one third of the errors occurred in the PICU (33.9%).

CONCLUSIONS

The incidence of MPEs was significantly high. Large-scale prospective studies are recommended to determine the extent and outcome of medication errors in pediatric hospitals in Saudi Arabia.

Adverse drug events in intensive care units: risk factors, impact, and the role of team care

Advances in diagnostic tests, technological interventions, and pharmacotherapy have resulted in spectacular results for many intensive care unit (ICU) patients who, in earlier generations, would have succumbed to their critical illness. At the same time, the complexity and intensity of care required for ICU patients is also associated with greater risks for harm resulting from care. As in other inpatient areas, medications are the most common type of therapy in ICUs and are also associated with the most frequent type of ICU adverse events. Critically ill patients are at high risk for adverse drug events for many reasons, including the complexity of their disease that creates challenges in drug dosing, their vulnerability to rapid changes in pharmacotherapy, the intensive care environment providing ample distractions and opportunity for error, the administration of complex drug regimens, the numerous high-alert medications that they receive, and the mode of drug administration. The clinical outcomes of adverse drug events can result in end-organ damage and even death. The costs of an adverse drug event can be substantial to healthcare systems with an additional $6,000-$9,000 for each event. The multiprofessional patient care team is one approach to promoting patient safety in the ICU.

The epidemiology of medication errors: the methodological difficulties

1. Medication errors should be amenable to epidemiological analysis, giving insights into the causes of error and the effects of interventions to prevent them or reduce harm from them. 2. There are formidable difficulties in establishing the rates of medication errors. 3. There is no agreement on a clear operational definition of the condition. 4. The methods used to enumerate cases so far have been unreliable or incomplete or both. 5. There is disagreement about whether cases of error that do not cause harm should be included in calculations of error rates. 6. When harm occurs in association with drug therapy, it is often unclear whether the harm might have been prevented, and its occurrence should therefore be considered to result from error. 7. The denominator for calculating the rate of error is both ill-defined and inconsistently measured. Better definitions, more complete evaluation, and more thorough impact assessment may improve matters.

A multidisciplinary approach to adverse drug events in pediatric trauma patients in an adult trauma center

BACKGROUND

Adult trauma centers are major providers of medical management for pediatric trauma patients in the United States. Medication administration in this patient population is complex and fraught with potential error.

METHODS

We designed a multidisciplinary team consisting of a pediatric hospitalist, pediatric care coordinator, pediatric nurse, pharmacist, and the trauma service to manage pediatric trauma patients from admission until discharge. The team mandated collective decision making for medication dosing and administration, weight documentation, and implemented a medication error reporting system. Our goal was to derive and implement a multidisciplinary practice and education-based model of pediatric trauma patient care to identify and decrease adverse medication events.

RESULTS

Two hundred fifty-nine pediatric trauma patients were studied from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2004, 125 pre-team implementation (control group) and 134 post-team implementation (study group). There were no significant differences in age, sex, mechanism of injury, injury severity score, or hospital length of stay between groups. There were significant reductions in number of medication prescribing errors (25 vs 15 errors; P = 0.05) and number of medication administration errors (19 vs 9 errors; P = 0.05) in the study group. Weight documentation improved significantly in the study group (90% vs 81%; P = 0.048).

CONCLUSIONS

Instituting a multidisciplinary approach to pediatric trauma patient care is practical and can significantly decrease adverse medication events.

Patterns and changes in prescriber attitudes toward PDA prescription-assistive technology

CONTEXT

Medication error prevention is a priority for the U.S. healthcare system in the 21st century. Use of technology is considered by some as critical to achieve this goal. Knowledge of the attitudinal barriers to such adoption, however, is limited.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the attitudes of frontline prescriber clinicians towards technology in general, and PDAs specifically, before and after introduction of a PDA in the clinical setting of medication prescribing.

DESIGN

A pre- and post-intervention web-based survey, 12-14 months apart.

SETTING

Academic tertiary care children's hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

Total of 244 prescriber clinicians.

INTERVENTION

Distribution of a PDA with pediatric-specific medication prescribing information after completion of an on-line medication safety certification and other safety focused educational sessions.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Ratings (5-point Likert scale) reflecting perceptions and attitudes towards technology in general and technology in medical settings along with self-reported usage of the PDA for Rx.

RESULTS

Early Adopters and Late Adopters were identified statistically, and the group membership reflected their prior exposure to and ownership of other technologies. Early Adopters tended to be younger and less experienced clinically (e.g., residents) and more frequent owners and users of technology. Early Adopters expressed significantly more favorable attitudes toward technology and PDAs on both pre- to post-intervention survey occasions. They also utilized the PDA for Rx more often than LAs. Interestingly, PDA use for Early Adopters was based on its ease of use, while PDA use among later adopters was based on its clinical usefulness.

CONCLUSIONS

Provision of point of care information using PDAs and a user-friendly, pediatric-specific medication information software package did not positively affect the attitudes of prescriber clinicians among those already favorable toward technology. However, a significant change was found among those with initially less favorable attitudes. Organizations need to understand the nature of both Early and Late Adopters and plan appropriately for managing the respective needs and expectations when potentially beneficial technologies are introduced. In order to ensure the success of an implementation, the training and supportive interventions need to be carefully designed and specifically catered to the personality-based outcome expectations of the prescriber.

Pharmacotherapeutic friendly fire in the intensive care unit: high stakes seeking high calibre

Increasing numbers of patients are surviving the intensive care unit. Concordant with our shifting focus to minimizing intensive care unit-acquired morbidity, in the present issue of Critical Care Moyen, Camire, and Stelfox describe the importance of quality pharmacotherapy. They describe challenges and potential solutions to this source of iatrogenic injury in our vulnerable patients. Their article reminds us not to understate the importance of medication error, to avoid overstating the benefits of incompletely proven methods to prevent medication error, and to distinguish harmful medication errors from other types of medication error.

Interventions to reduce medication prescribing errors in a paediatric cardiac intensive care unit

OBJECTIVE

To identify and reduce medication-prescribing errors by introducing systematic physician education and post-cardiac surgery admission prescription forms.

DESIGN

Errors were defined as: incomplete prescriptions; potential adverse drug events (ADEs), i.e. either intercepted or non-intercepted incorrect prescriptions not resulting in an ADE; and incorrect prescriptions that resulted in ADEs. Two baseline blinded pre-intervention data collection periods of 4 weeks and 1 week were followed by implementation of a post-cardiac surgery templated physician order and prescription form and systematic physicians' education. Twelve post-intervention data collections of 1-week duration were completed over a 3-year period and were either blinded or informed with reinforcement of physicians' education.

SETTING

Tertiary paediatric cardiac intensive care unit.

RESULTS

A total of 3648 prescriptions were evaluated at baseline (mean +/- SD of 687+/- 8 per week) and 811 +/- 129 prescriptions during each post-intervention period. Total baseline errors of 16.8% decreased to 8.4% after the first blinded data collection and to 4.8% at the final data collection (p<0.001). The occurrence of incomplete prescriptions fell from 15.3% at baseline to 3.6% at final data collection (p<0.001); intercepted potential ADEs fell from 1.3% to 1.1%; non-intercepted potential ADEs fell from 0.17% to zero; and post-operative prescribing errors fell from 44% to 4.6% (p<0.001), with the major reduction seen in incomplete prescriptions.

CONCLUSION

The incidence of incomplete prescriptions significantly improved with education of physicians and use of post-cardiac surgery templated physician order and prescription forms. There was no impact on potential ADEs.

Medication errors in neonates

Prevention of harm from medication errors has become a national priority. Medication errors in the neonatal intensive care unit are common, and most can be avoided. This article reviews the prevalence and types of medication errors affecting the care of the neonate and summarizes approaches that have been used to reduce these errors. Safety initiatives applicable to minimizing medication errors also are discussed.

Interventions to reduce dosing errors in children: a systematic review of the literature

Children are a particularly challenging group of patients when trying to ensure the safe use of medicines. The increased need for calculations, dilutions and manipulations of paediatric medicines, together with a need to dose on an individual patient basis using age, gestational age, weight and surface area, means that they are more prone to medication errors at each stage of the medicines management process. It is already known that dose calculation errors are the most common type of medication error in neonatal and paediatric patients. Interventions to reduce the risk of dose calculation errors are therefore urgently needed. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify published articles reporting interventions; 28 studies were found to be relevant. The main interventions found were computerised physician order entry (CPOE) and computer-aided prescribing. Most CPOE and computer-aided prescribing studies showed some degree of reduction in medication errors, with some claiming no errors occurring after implementation of the intervention. However, one study showed a significant increase in mortality after the implementation of CPOE. Further research is needed to investigate outcomes such as mortality and economics. Unit dose dispensing systems and educational/risk management programmes were also shown to reduce medication errors in children. Although it is suggested that 'smart' intravenous pumps can potentially reduce infusion errors in children, there is insufficient information to draw a conclusion because of a lack of research. Most interventions identified were US based, and since medicine management processes are currently different in different countries, there is a need to interpret the information carefully when considering implementing interventions elsewhere.