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Reducing Pediatric Medication Safety Risks Through Improved Dosing Weight Accuracy: A Hospital-Based Quality

Katelyn Brant1, Judith Ascenzi, Meghan Rowcliffe

  • 1Author Affiliations: Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Department, The Johns Hopkins Children's Center (Mrs Brant), Pediatric Nursing Department, The Johns Hopkins Children's Center (Dr Ascenzi), Department of Pharmacy, The Johns Hopkins Children's Center (Dr Rowcliffe), Department of Operational Excellence, Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, Johns Hopkins Medicine (Mr Burkett), and Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (Dr Kane), Baltimore, Maryland.

Journal of Nursing Care Quality
|August 4, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Improving pediatric patient safety, interventions significantly increased the percentage of patients with measured weights for accurate medication dosing. This addresses a key concern in pediatric care.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Patient Safety
  • Medication Error Reduction
  • Healthcare Quality Improvement

Background:

  • Inaccurate weight-based dosing in pediatric patients is a significant cause of medication errors.
  • Using non-measured weights for medication and fluid administration contributes to these errors.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To reduce medication errors by increasing the proportion of pediatric patients with accurately measured weights.
  • To improve the documentation and utilization of measured weights for dosing.

Main Methods:

  • Implementation of multiple Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles.
  • Interventions included awareness campaigns, targeted education, and electronic health record (EHR) improvements.
  • Goal to increase measured weight documentation from 18.5% to over 75% within six months.

Main Results:

  • Achieved a statistically significant improvement in documented measured weights for dosing, rising from 18.5% to 66.2%.
  • Demonstrated a substantial reduction in the use of non-measured weights for medication administration.

Conclusions:

  • The implemented interventions effectively improved the accuracy of weight-based dosing in pediatric patients.
  • These strategies are adaptable for use in other pediatric settings and potentially in adult care.
Abstract

Keywords:
adverse drug eventsmedication safetyquality improvement

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