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Reduce Adverse Drug Events (ADEs) Involving Intravenous Medications:
Prepare All Intravenous Solutions in the Hospital Pharmacy

Intravenous solutions must be mixed properly to ensure that the correct dose is administered to the patient. By preparing all solutions in the pharmacy, an organization can decrease the chance of errors. That’s simply because the fewer workers involved, the easier it is to maintain competency and consistent practice. People working in the pharmacy may encounter fewer distractions and interruptions than those in most patient care units. Intravenous solutions should arrive on patient care units in ready-to-use form, with no need for further manipulation by nursing staff.


Tips
  • Remember that errors can happen just as easily in the pharmacy as in other units.
  • Arrange work space and workflow so that staff preparing solutions are distracted as little as possible by noise, phone interruptions, and pedestrian traffic.
  • Ensure that at least one trained staff member who routinely prepares intravenous solutions is always on duty. Inexperienced substitutes often commit errors.
  • Have a plan to prepare solutions for off-shifts if your pharmacy is not open 24 hours a day.
  • Use standard solutions of medications throughout the organization so the pharmacy needs to mix only one.
  • Minimize the use of multiple strengths.
  • Store different strengths separately and with clear labeling to help prevent selection errors.