Medication errors, paediatric prescribing

The variation in the error rates was probably due to the differences in the definitions of medication errors, the methodologies used and the settings. For example, the error rate in a neonatal intensive care unit is much higher than that in a general paediatric ward. Furthermore, the systems of prescribing, dispensing and drug administration vary... 

AE, administration error ED, emergency department ME, medication error NICU, neonatal intensive care unit PCICU, paediatric cardiac intensive care unit PICU, paediatric intensive care unit PE, prescribing error PCW, paediatric cardiac ward DE, dispensing error. 

Farrar K, CaldweU N, Robertson J, et al. Use of structured paediatric-prescribing screens to reduce the risk of medication errors in the care of children. Br J Healthc Comput Inf Manag. 

USA) 1995. Phase 1 14 days phase 2 5 days paediatric teaching hospital. Phase 1 2 units (ICU and medical surgical unit). Phase 2 3 units (ICU, medical and surgical units) Following medication order written from prescribing through administration. Also review of medical record, pharmacy s clinical interventions and quality control log, and incident reports. Also review of medication administration record Sample 3312 medication orders Error rate 24/100 orders Administration error 0.15% doses administered... 

Fontan et al., 2003 (France) 8 weeks Paediatric hospital Prospective study Prescription and administration documents were analysed daily and medical record analysis was used to compare the prescription with administration report Sample = 49 patients Prescriptions = 511 Prescribed drugs = 4532 Prescription error rate 20.7% (1.9 errors per patient per day) Administration error rate 23.5%... 

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