How to improve medication safety for inpatient children and infants reported in PATIENT SAFETY
Harrisburg, PA
|
February 01, 2022 01:40 PM Eastern Standard Time
Recognizing the importance of pharmacists and their crucial role in our health and well-being, the Patient Safety Authority (PSA) has published a special issue of PATIENT SAFETY dedicated to pharmacy education and practice. In it, a team from the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Long Island University write about why children and babies are uniquely vulnerable to medication errors in the hospital and how to keep them safe.
A survey of children’s hospitals found that only 2/3 of them had a medication safety pharmacist. The diversity of the patient population, rapid changes in the weight of newborns, and the use of specialized compounds makes the medication dispensing process particularly challenging among children and babies.
Advances in patient safety like standardizing extemporaneous medication preparation, computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems, and specialized systems to reduce the administration of medications by the incorrect route can help to make the medication-use system safer, according to the authors.
“The increased risk of medication errors in pediatric and neonatal patients and inconsistent medication safety resources in institutions underscore the importance that all clinicians play an active role in strengthening medication-use system safety,” writes assistant professor of pharmacy practice Kyle Hampson.
The special issue of PATIENT SAFETY honors the important role of pharmacists in dealing with COVID-19 and in stewarding patient safety in medication management.
“Despite the challenges of the pandemic, many healthcare professionals still see the good, they still have hope, and they want to continue making a difference. Pharmacists are some of these people. They continue to demonstrate the meaning of teamwork as they keep showing up to help us overcome one of the biggest public health challenges of our lifetime,” says Regina Hoffman, executive director of the PSA.
Other topics in this issue of PATIENT SAFETY include:
- Mitigating vaccine patient fears and anxiety – Mass vaccination efforts for COVID-19 have increased the number of immunization stress-related reactions (ISRR). University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy senior scholars discuss administration protocols including patient screening, observation, and reporting to minimize the potential for vaccine-related adverse events.
- Antibiotic stewardship opportunities in the ER – Every year, thousands of emergency department (ED) visits result in patients being discharged with oral antibiotic prescriptions but studies that assess the appropriateness of antibiotic regimens are limited. A study by pharmacists at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Saint Vincent Hospital in Erie, PA found that of the non-optimal antibiotic regimens, most had an excessive duration. Targeted local education efforts and future clinical decision support can facilitate appropriate prescribing.
PATIENT SAFETY is the peer-reviewed journal of the Patient Safety Authority. A scientific publication, PATIENT SAFETY humanizes patient harm with stories, opinion pieces, and magazine-quality design. It has a readership of more than 45,000 people in 164 countries.
About PSA
Established under the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error (MCARE) Act of 2002, the PSA, an independent state agency, collects and analyzes patient safety data to improve safety outcomes and help prevent patient harm. http://patientsafety.pa.gov/
Contact Details
Bev Volpe
+1 609-230-4696
Company Website
