Controls in the NICU to prevent medication errors
This case study titled ‘Controls in the NICU’ (Gogan, Boss, Balaji & Linderman, 2011) offers an opportunity to meticulously examine the inherent risks associated with drug administration which encompass the tragedies of medication errors and adverse drug reactions. Sandy Payne is the Vice President for Administration at Compassionate Care Hospital of New England. Payne contemplated on the cases of medication errors that occurred during the last 5 years in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at hospitals located in Indiana (2006), California (2007), Texas (2008), and Nebraska (2010). She decided to organize teams to analyze medication processes on the NICU and address the issue about preventing…show more content… Nurse monitors patient progress and updates administration software system.
6. Pharmacist stocks medication cabinet using RDIF tagging technology and updating CPOE.
As an alternative ‘B’, it is proposed that in the above process, steps 1 & 2 remain unchanged. However, the other steps that follow are mentioned below:
1. Pharmacist stocks medication cabinet using RDIF tagging technology and updating CPOE. Pharmacists should have routine access to appropriate clinical information about patients (including medication, allergy, hypersensitivity profile, diagnosis, pregnancy status, and laboratory values)
2. Physician prescribes medicine using CPOE which can alert physician to any allergies.
3. Physician retrieves medication from a locked, computer-controlled medicine cabinet by using individually assigned ID and password,
4. Physician hands over the medication to the Nurse who verifies that the medication matches the prescription and updates CPOE.
7. Nurse administers medication by bar coding the patients identification tag (right patient); bar codes the medication, which matches the medication with the order (right medication, route, dosage, and time); and then administers the medication and bar codes or signs the patient's Medication Administration Record (McGann,
