CLINICAL ROLE -
Implement Changes to Minimize These 2 Hazards
Errors related to extended-release opioids and COVID-19 vaccines warrant attention and should be a priority.
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Safeguard Patients During COVID-19 Immunization Campaigns
Shoulder injuries are a real concern because some health care workers may be new to administering vaccines.
What Factors Contribute to Influenza Vaccine Errors?
Pharmacists can learn from previous mistakes to prepare for COVID-19 vaccination campaigns.
Wrong-Route Errors With Tranexamic Acid Can Be Serious
Alert practitioners to key strategies to reduce the risk of significant harm to patients.
Select High-Alert Medications Require Caution
Reduce the risk of errors with rapid acting–insulins fentanyl patches and weight-based chemotherapy doses.
Lookalike Drug Names Lead to Decades of Confusion
Manufacturers, pharmacists, and physicians all play a role in ensuring no mix-ups with hydralazine and hydroxyzine.
Should Physicians Be Allowed to Dispense Medications?
Despite good intentions, safety concerns abound, including loss of crucial second check by a pharmacist.
Nymalize Changes Formulation and Packaging
Modifications may present challenges when treating pediatric patients or patients with ENFit feeding tubes.
These 2 Potential Errors May Go Unseen
On the Diastat AcuDial delivery system, the prescribed dose will appear in the dose display window, and the locking ring, designated with a green “ready” band, will be engaged.
Patient Experiences Cardiac Arrest When Taking 2 Medications
Drug screening, heart monitoring are critical when using azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine.
Operational Changes Related to Pandemic Can Open Up Risks
Pharmacies must take steps to safeguard prescription delivery and verbal communication during the COVID-19 crisis.
Lack of Federal Regulation of Medical Cannabis Raises Risks
Amid differences in state programs, product labeling improvements must be adopted to protect patients.
High-Alert Medications Require Special Safeguards
Evaluate the systems in place to protect patients from medication confusion and serious, even fatal, harm.
Standard Insulin Pen Needles Require Caution
Mandatory, scripted patient education and device demonstrations are vital to avoid harm.
Drug Name Confusion With Methotrexate Can Cause Fatal Errors
Implementation of critical risk-reduction strategies is needed to prevent continued patient harm.
Protect Pets from Accidental Exposure
Keeping animals safe around human medications requires vigilance; Here are 10 tips.
Scrutinize Levothyroxine Prescriptions
Prescriber confusion regarding decimal point placement with doses expressed in miligrams is not uncommon.
Be Careful of Using Drug Abbreviations
Trying to save time can cause confusion, errors, and potentially harmful delays in treatment.
Price Checks, Test Scripts Can Cause Errors
Test orders to check medication cost and insurance coverage may lead to close calls or improper dispensation.
Dispensing Mistakes Can Happen to Pets, Too
Pharmacists should not make assumptions about what a veterinarian intended on a prescription.
Drug Shortages Raise Critical Safety Concerns
Lack of availability has led to compromised care, potentially harmful errors, and unsafe practices. Here are strategies for coping with the crisis.
Reporting and Second-Order Problem Solving Are Critical
Health care practitioners are repeatedly challenged by unexpected problems due to a variety of system failures that can hinder patient care.
Safety Requires a Healthy Preoccupation With Failure
Health care organizations are taking a page out of the books of high-reliability organizations.
Study Lays Bare Residents' E-Medication Prescribing Errors
Takeaways include ensuring additional supervision, consultation, and continued pharmacy support.
Tacrolimus Errors Occur for a Number of Reasons
Avoiding Leading Decimal Point Doses and Educating Patients Are Just 2 Safe Practice Recommendations
Product and Container Label Changes May Cause Confusion
Be aware of the higher concentration of rabies immune globulin and new units of measure for OTC vitamins A, D, and E.
Avoid Patient Distress: Dilute Sertraline Oral Concentrate
Direct administration of the concentrated, undiluted solution Is astringent and may numb the mouth and tongue for at least a day.
Iron Products Need Improved Labeling
A practitioner reviewing the home medication list of an elderly patient learned that the patient’s daughter had been giving him 5 tablets of ferrous sulfate daily to equal the 325-mg dose recommended by her father’s physician.
An Unsafe Practice: Reuse of Prefilled Saline Flush
Unsafe injection practices have affected over 150,000 patients since 2001 and have led to more than 50 documented outbreaks of bacterial infections or viral hepatitis, according to the CDC.
Potential Safety Risks With Texting Orders and Prescriptions
Technology-savvy health care professionals are advocating for the use of text messaging to transmit orders and prescriptions.