Medication "safety checks" in pediatric acute care.
The high acuity of hospitalized pediatric patients requires well-articulated safety measures in medication dosing and administration. Simple arithmetic errors in calculating medication and fluid requirements can occur easily. A decimal point error could mean injury to a child because of the fine line between therapeutic and toxic effects of medications. This article identifies a few pediatric medication errors encountered by the author. Approaches by nursing professionals to decrease these occasions for mistakes are suggested in the context of creating a system that accepts and recognizes human error without placing blame.
Kennedy
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University of Kansas School of Nursing, Kansas City, USA.
D000208:Acute Disease; D000367:Age Factors; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004348:Drug Labeling; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000451:nursing*; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008433:Mathematics; D008508:Medication Errors; D009737:Nursing Records; D010371:Pediatric Nursing; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care