title: Program to improve nurses' knowledge of pediatric emergency medications.
abstract: The effects of an educational program designed to improve nurses' knowledge of the use of emergency medications in the pediatric intensive-care unit (PICU) are reported. The clinical pharmacist for a six-bed PICU and a clinical nurse educator developed a program to assess and extend PICU nurses' knowledge of emergency medications with respect to calculations of bolus and continuous infusions, pharmacology, and proper dosage and administration route. The program consisted of a pretest, a pharmacology lecture, calculation problems, a hands-on practicum, and a posttest. Drugs covered were atropine sulfate, sodium bicarbonate, calcium gluconate, calcium chloride, dopamine hydrochloride, dobutamine hydrochloride, epinephrine hydrochloride, isoproterenol hydrochloride, lidocaine hydrochloride, sodium nitroprusside, and norepinephrine bitartrate. A retest was given 13 months after the pretest. The program was completed by 21 nurses over seven months. There was a significant difference between the mean pretest score, 69.5%, and the mean posttest score, 87.3%, due to improvements in scores for the calculation questions. There was no significant difference in the mean time required to complete the pretest and the posttest. A significant correlation was observed between pretest score and months spent practicing in the PICU. Time to take the retest was significantly shorter than the posttest time, and scores continued to improve. An educational program developed cooperatively by pharmacy and nursing improved specific measures of PICU nurses' knowledge of emergency drugs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois, Chicago 60612.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Kraus
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stifter
authors.forename: H T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Hatoum
mesh_terms: D002641:Chicago; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000592:standards*; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing / Q000379:methods; D004630:Emergencies; D006746:Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over; D006801:Humans; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric / Q000592:standards*; D010371:Pediatric Nursing / Q000193:education*; D010600:Pharmacology; D013997:Time Factors