A bundle with a preformatted medical order sheet and an introductory course to reduce prescription errors in neonates

The objective of this study was to assess whether the introduction of a new preformatted medical order sheet coupled with an introductory course affected prescription quality and the frequency of errors during the prescription stage in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Two-phase observational s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of pediatrics 2016-01, Vol.175 (1), p.113-119
Main Authors: Palmero, David, Di Paolo, Ermindo R., Beauport, Lydie, Pannatier, André, Tolsa, Jean-François
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Drug dosages
Drug therapy
Forms and Records Control - standards
Humans
Iatrogenesis
Infant, Newborn
Intensive care
Intensive Care Units, Neonatal
Intervention
Medical errors
Medication Errors - prevention & control
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Neonatal care
Observational studies
Original Article
Patients
Pediatrics
Physicians
Prescription drugs
Prescriptions - standards
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Summary:The objective of this study was to assess whether the introduction of a new preformatted medical order sheet coupled with an introductory course affected prescription quality and the frequency of errors during the prescription stage in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Two-phase observational study consisting of two consecutive 4-month phases: pre-intervention (phase 0) and post-intervention (phase I) conducted in an 11-bed NICU in a Swiss university hospital. Interventions consisted of the introduction of a new preformatted medical order sheet with explicit information supplied, coupled with a staff introductory course on appropriate prescription and medication errors. The main outcomes measured were formal aspects of prescription and frequency and nature of prescription errors. Eighty-three and 81 patients were included in phase 0 and phase I, respectively. A total of 505 handwritten prescriptions in phase 0 and 525 in phase I were analysed. The rate of prescription errors decreased significantly from 28.9 % in phase 0 to 13.5 % in phase I ( p  
ISSN:0340-6199
1432-1076
DOI:10.1007/s00431-015-2607-4