This tool helps you standardize infusions

For many years, doses and rates of administration for continuous infusions in pediatric patients have been based upon the "rule of six." This weight-based method relies on the following formula: six times body weight is the amount of drug to be added to 100 ml of carrier fluid. However, th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Drug Topics 2006-05, Vol.150 (10), p.HSE19
Main Author: Karpa, Kelly Dowhower
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Compliance
Dosage and administration
Drug dosages
Drugs
Infusion therapy
Pediatrics
Pharmacists
Practice
Regulation
Software
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Summary:For many years, doses and rates of administration for continuous infusions in pediatric patients have been based upon the "rule of six." This weight-based method relies on the following formula: six times body weight is the amount of drug to be added to 100 ml of carrier fluid. However, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has issued a mandate for hospitals to limit and standardize concentrations of high-alert drugs. In essence, JCAHO wants hospitals to switch to just two to four predetermined concentrations of drugs used for patients of all weights, rather than relying upon the rule of six, in which limitless drug concentrations are needed for each patient, at different weights. As a result of the National Patient Safety Goal 3b published in July 2002, pediatric hospitals nationwide are scrambling to standardize the way that intravenous drips are administered. To address the "standardization" mandate, a group of healthcare professionals including two physicians, a nurse, and a pharmacist (Hilmas) at the University of Maryland developed a software program to calculate standard concentrations based upon drug, patient populations, and capabilities of infusion pumps.
ISSN:0012-6616
1937-8157