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Review
. 2018 Nov;25(6):298-300.
doi: 10.1136/ejhpharm-2016-000947. Epub 2017 Jun 6.

Intravenous medicine preparation technique training programme for nurses in clinical areas

Ainara Campino  1 , Beatriz Sordo  1 , PIlar Pascual  1 , Casilda Arranz  2 , Elena Santesteban  3 , Maria Unceta  4 , Ion Lopez-de-Heredia  2
Affiliations
Review

Intravenous medicine preparation technique training programme for nurses in clinical areas

Ainara Campino et al. Eur J Hosp Pharm. 2018 Nov.

Abstract

Objective: The key objective of this study was to highlight the weak points in the medicine use process.

Method: We collected 15 videos from eight neonatal intensive care units where staff nurses showed how medicine preparation was performed. Recorded medicines were: vancomycin (6), gentamicin (5), caffeine citrate (2) and phenobarbital (2).

Results: We did not review any video without errors. In 8/15 (53.3%) videos, the same syringe was used to measure the medicine and the diluent. In 8/15 (53.3%) videos, the syringes used were not the correct size for the volume being measured. In 4/15 (26.6%) videos, the volume measured into the syringes was not checked after it was measured from vials or ampoules. In just one vancomycin preparation could the reconstitution process be described as a correct process; in the other five videos, mixing after diluent addition to the vancomycin vial was almost non-existent (less than 10 s). Mixing after the medicine and diluent were in the same syringe was also non-existent in all of the videos.

Conclusions: Hospitals should provide training programmes outlining the correct preparation technique.

Keywords: Accuracy; Medication errors; Medicine preparation; Neonatal intensive care unit; Preparation errors.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

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