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Reduce Adverse Drug Events Involving Intravenous Medications

When intravenous medications are involved in ADEs, the harmful effects to the patient may occur more rapidly and be more severe than errors with oral medications, due the direct administration into the bloodstream. It is therefore important to use known safety practices with intravenous medications, solutions, and equipment that can minimize the risk of errors in administration. Many of the safe practices recommended here can easily be adopted, some of them at minimal or no cost to the organization.


Changes for Improvement
Conduct Independent Double-Checks on the Unit
Use Tubing That Is Not Interchangeable
Provide Dose-Calculation Aids on IV Solution Bag Labels
Use Oral Syringes for Oral Medications Only
Prepare All Intravenous Solutions in the Hospital Pharmacy
Involve Patients in Checks of Intravenous Medications
Use IV Pumps with Safety Features
Use Pre-Made Dose and Flow Rate Charts
Implement Smart Infusion Pumps
Label All Distal Ports and Tubing on All Lines
Use Pre-Mixed Intravenous Solutions
Limit the Number of Floor Stock Intravenous Solutions
Standardize Intravenous Solutions