Daily packaging of non standard oral unit doses for pediatrics

A pilot project to examine the feasibility of a computerized one-day supply packaging system for non-standard pediatric oral unit doses was performed on one nursing unit over a 41-day period. The results showed a waste of 18 percent compared to 32 percent for our non-computerized three-day supply system. Technician time to prepare doses decreased from 1.45 minutes to 0.98 minutes per dose when comparing the three-day supply to the one-day supply procedure. Due to the success of the pilot project, all existing unit dose beds were converted to the new system and 81 additional beds were added to the unit dose program without increasing the volume of daily packaging compared to other years.