A Comparison of Error Rates Between Intravenous Push Methods: A Prospective, Multisite, Observational Study.

Area of Science:

• Pharmacology
• Patient Safety
• Healthcare Quality Improvement

Background:

• Intravenous (IV) medication errors are a significant concern, with current literature reporting error rates between 9.4% and 97.7% globally.
• Traditional IV push medication preparation and administration involve complex steps, increasing the potential for errors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the incidence of medication preparation and administration errors between a ready-to-administer IV product and traditional IV push practices.
• To evaluate the safety and efficacy of different IV medication delivery systems in reducing errors.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, multisite, observational study was conducted across 3 US health systems.
• Researchers observed 329 IV push medication preparations and administrations using a validated observational method.
• Error rates were determined by reconciling observations with original medication orders.

Main Results:

• The overall observed error rate for ready-to-administer products was 2.5% (25 errors out of 102 observations).
• The observed error rate for traditional IV push practice was 10.4% (235 errors out of 227 observations).
• A statistically significant reduction in errors was observed with the ready-to-administer product.

Conclusions:

• Ready-to-administer IV products are associated with fewer preparation and administration errors in clinical settings.
• Further research is needed to assess the potential patient harm from these errors and optimize safe IV medication administration practices.