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High-throughput and Comprehensive Drug Surveillance Using Multisegment Injection-Capillary Electrophoresis-Mass Spectrometry

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Published on: April 23, 2019

[Drug mix-ups].

Rie Harboe Nielsen¹, Annemarie Hellebek

¹Administrationen, Hvidovre Hospital, DK-2650 Hvidovre.

Ugeskrift for Laeger

|March 7, 2009

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Drug mix-ups, including insulin and infusion fluids, accounted for 7% of medication errors at a Danish hospital. Improved packaging and bar-coding can prevent these critical medication safety issues.

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Area of Science:

Pharmacovigilance
Patient Safety
Healthcare Quality Improvement

Context:

Analysis of medication errors in a Danish hospital setting.
Focus on drug mix-ups as a specific category of error.
Inclusion of 1,554 medication errors for comprehensive review.

Purpose:

To quantify the incidence and types of drug mix-ups.
To identify the primary causes of drug mix-ups, particularly name confusions.
To propose preventative strategies for medication errors related to drug mix-ups.

Summary:

Drug mix-ups constituted 7% (115 of 1,554) of medication errors.
Common mix-ups involved insulin, infusion fluids, and pre-filled syringes.
Illegible handwriting was the leading cause of name confusion.

Impact:

Highlights the significance of drug mix-ups in medication errors.
Suggests bar-coding for routine dispensing to prevent packing mix-ups.
Recommends enhanced package design to mitigate mix-ups in acute care settings.