Hello all,

In light of news of the fatal medication event from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, I was wondering if any of you can share some error-reduction strategies you have in place at your institutions to prevent similar mix-ups. I have several to share but would like to hear from the group.

Can you describe your process for tracking/monitoring controlled substances that leave the hospital for transport (i.e. your transport team goes to pick a patient up and bring back to your hospital).

Thanks.

Good afternoon,

Do you have a policy that guides nursing for PRN medication timing? How soon can they give the next dose ie 30 min early for say a q4 hr prn order? Do you have it mapped out for each interval ie q1 hr prn vs q2 hr prn etc?

Many thanks in advance!
Jeanette Dean

Does anyone have a policy or standard of practice regarding driving after receiving sedating medications? For example, patients are advised not drive for so many hours, or are not allowed to drive themselves from the hospital? We are seeing this more in the ED setting and this stirs up nurse/pharmacy debate about how long the patient needs to be kept before discharge if they do not have any other means of transport.

Thanks!
Courtney

I'm hoping you can help provide some corrective actions based on an error we had:

A patient with ongoing rejection of kidney transplant was receiving filgrastim. Once the white count improved the team had asked for the filgrastim to be discontinued (was getting it 2x/week) and it was not recognized that it was not actually discontinued.
The patient went on to receive two more doses and ultimately the WBC count rose to 59K

Would be very interested in how others define "hold" orders in policy.

Thanks!

Do any of your facilities use diazepam in the PACU to treat withdrawal in your ambulatory surgery centers? If so, is it stocked for all cases or only limited to 23:59?

Thank you

We are currently in the process of identifying PI projects for 2019. BCMA is receiving a lot of attention at our institution and an area where we may have opportunities for performance improvement. To facilitate brainstorming, can others offer BCMA related PI projects they have previously completed at other institutions? Thanks!

Hi all -

I've been asked by my leadership to create a scope of services document. Does anyone have one that they're willing to share? Additionally, they specifically want our scope of service as it relates to nursing. Does anyone have that specifically called out?

Thanks,
Elizabeth

We are exploring smart pump options with an eye towards EMR interoperability. While we have some limited experience with older models of Alaris and Hospira Plum pumps, we're very interested in what the group has to offer in the way of insight and wisdom.

What questions should prospective purchasers be asking when assessing:
1. Usability
2. Safety features
3. Interoperability
4. Complex programming