A study pre and post unit dose conversion in a pediatric hospital

Two pediatric medical wards were studied pre and post unit dose conversion using some of the methods described by Schnell et al. The proportion of nurses' time spent on medication related activities decreased from 23.7% pre to 21.6% post unit dose conversion. Nurses' attitudes to the roles of pharmacists and nurses did not change overall and there were significant improvements in their perceptions of the drug distribution system. Observed medication incident rates decreased from 10.3% to 2.9% when wrong time errors were excluded. Medication room audits showed less opportunity for error post-conversion. Work sampling of pharmacists' activities showed no significant change in the amount of time spent on distribution activities. Medication costs decreased by 4% under unit dose drug distribution.