title: Safe medication administration in the operating room.
abstract: In perioperative settings, medications are removed from their original identifying containers; therefore, scrub personnel (RN's and OR Technicians) need to label all medications placed on the sterile field. In this study, medication labeling practices will be evaluated in the operating room of a 187-bed, Charlotte, North Carolina hospital. Subsequently, blank and preprinted labels will be used to test compliance of safe medication practices. The results of the Performance Improvement study indicate that scrub persons are likely to label medications and syringes more often and more accurately when preprinted labels are provided. The data obtained from this project led to supplying preprinted labels for all procedures in order to improve patient safety in the operating room.
authors.affiliation: Mercy Hospital, Charlotte, USA.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Erbe
mesh_terms: D000004:Abbreviations as Topic; D032882:Comprehension; D004348:Drug Labeling / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000451:nursing / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D009871:Operating Room Nursing / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009873:Operating Rooms / Q000458:organization & administration; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D017751:Safety Management / Q000379:methods*; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000458:organization & administration