Timeliness of medication administration in hemodialysis inpatients: drug use evaluation

Inpatients at the Albany Medical Center Hospital in Albany, New York are transported from their ward to the hemodialysis unit for their dialytic procedures. The time involved is several hours. An investigation into the timeliness of medication administration during this off-the-ward period was prospectively conducted. Twenty-eight dialytic procedures (for eight different patients), including 127 scheduled medication administrations, were included in the final data. A total of 108 (85%) of audited medication administrations were given more than 1 hour early, 1 hour late, or not at all. Recommendations for corrective action are proposed.