title: Application of the 80/20 rule in safeguarding the use of high-alert medications.
abstract: Critical care units are busy, complicated settings where the margins of error are narrow and the challenges to patient safety are ever present. Applying the 80/20 rule, front-line nurses can reduce medication errors by focusing on the safe use of "high-alert" medications. There are three primary principles that practitioners can use for safeguarding against medication errors that may result from high-alert drugs. These include: reducing or eliminating the possibility of errors, making errors visible, and minimizing the consequences of errors. These principles constitute a framework of safety that guides the development of proactive error reduction strategies.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Safe Medication Practices, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006-3520, USA. hcohen@ismp.org
authors.forename: Hedy
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Michelle M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Mandrack
mesh_terms: D003422:Critical Care / Q000592:standards*; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008510:Medication Systems, Hospital / Q000592:standards*; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D017751:Safety Management; D014481:United States