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Lessons Learned about Human Fallibility, System Design, and Justice in the Aftermath of a Fatal Medication Error.

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Institute for Safe Medication Practices and the Just Culture Company. May 6, 2022.

Organizational factors can contribute to the occurrence of patient safety events and how health systems respond to such events. This webinar highlighted lessons learned in the aftermath of a fatal medication error, and strategies to improve patient safety at the organizational level through system design and accountability.

Diversion is a Threat to Patient Safety: Adopting Best Practices.

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Institute for Safe Medication Practices. April 6, 2022.

Drug diversion can result in patient harm due to reduced medication availability, impaired clinician performance, and loss of trust. This webinar discussed the impact of drug diversion at a system level and outlined steps an organization can take to minimize this risk through workplace health strategies and stewardship programs.

ISMP Medication Safety Self Assessment® for Perioperative Settings.

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Institute for Safe Medication Practices

The perioperative setting is a high-risk area for medication errors, should they occur. This assessment provides hospitals and outpatient surgical providers a tool to examine their medication use processes and share data nationwide for comparison. Organizational participation can identify strengths and gaps in their systems to design opportunities that prevent patient harm. The deadline for submitting data is February 11, 2022.

Medication safety issues with newly authorized PAXLOVID.

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Institute for Safe Medication Practices. Medication Safety Alerts. January 3, 2022.

Emerging care practices can produce unsafe situations due to the newness of the approaches involved. This alert highlights safety considerations with an oral antiretroviral COVID treatment that include medication administration problems. Safety recommendations are provided for prescribers and pharmacists.

Prevent errors during emergency use of hypertonic sodium chloride solutions.

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. November 4, 2021;26(22); 1-4.

Delays in diagnosis and treatment during life-threatening emergencies such as strokes can result in irreversible patient harm. This article discusses a variety of factors contributing to errors in administering hypertonic sodium chloride in emergent situations. The piece shares recommendations touching on various elements of the medication delivery process to enhance safety.

Disrespectful behavior in healthcare: has it improved? Please take our survey!

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. September 9, 2021;26(18);1-5.

Disrespectful behavior is a persistent contributor to failures in medical care. This article summarizes influences that enable the acceptance and perpetuation of unprofessional behaviors and calls for data to assess its presence and impact in health care environments. The deadline for survey participation is now closed.

Mix-ups between the influenza (Flu) vaccine and COVID-19 vaccines.

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. October 7, 2021;26(20):1-4.

Production pressure and low staff coverage can result in medication mistakes in community pharmacies. This article shares reported vaccine errors and factors contributing to mistaken administration of flu and COVID vaccines. Storage, staffing and collaboration strategies are shared to protect against vaccine mistakes.

Important Actions Community Pharmacists Need to Take Now to Reduce Potentially Harmful Dispensing Errors.

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Institute for Safe Medication Practices. October 26, 2021.

Community pharmacies encounter a variety of challenges to medication safety. This webinar focused on high-alert medications and discuss unreliable medication delivery methods. The session also covered vaccination errors and how to prevent them.

Leaving a discontinued FentaNYL infusion attached to the patient leads to a tragic error

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. 2021;26(13);1-2.

High-alert medication misadministration is of great concern due to the increased opportunity for harm associated with mistakes. This case describes how tubing and alarm management errors came together to result in the death of patient sedated with fentanyl.

Administration of concentrated potassium chloride for injection during a code: still deadly!

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. June 3, 2021; 26(11): 1-5.

Concentrated potassium chloride is a high-alert medication for which dosing errors are particularly injurious. This article shares the root causes of IV-push missteps with this medication during a code. Recommendations for improvement shared center on team characteristics and communication.

More can be done to alleviate errors associated with pharmaceutical product labeling and packaging.

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute Care Edition. May 6, 2021;26(9):1-4.

Look-alike labeling is a known contributor to medication errors. This article summarizes common factors resulting in packaging and labeling concerns. Recommendations for improvement include partnerships with industry regarding the use of risk management practices to improve the accuracy of labeling prior to product launch.

Any new process poses a risk for errors: learning from 4 months of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccinations.

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute Care Edition. April 22, 2021.26(8):1-5.

Process change can introduce opportunities for error into established practice. This article builds on results of an earlier survey to expand the record on the types of COVID vaccine errors such as wrong patient age, dilution problems, and vaccine card confusion.

Analysis of transdermal medication patch errors uncovers a “patchwork” of safety challenges.

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute Care. March 11, 2021;26(5):1-6.

Skin patches are a convenient medication delivery method but may harbor unique threats to safety. This article examines transdermal patch errors submitted to a national reporting program to provide safety improvement insights. Recommendations suggested for improvement focus on topics such as prescribing, patch management upon hospital admission, and labeling issues.

Updated guidance needed for longstanding large volume parenteral (LVP) labeling and packaging problems.

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. February 11, 2021;26(3):1-4.

Packaging and labeling problems hinder safe medication use. This article discusses label appearance and information design as distinct factors that affect the safe use of premixed large volume intravenous solutions.

COVID-19 Content. ISMP Medication Safety Alert!

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March 2020--January 2021.

Medication safety is improved through the sharing of frontline improvement experiences and concerns. These articles share recommendations to reduce risks associated with distinct areas of the medication use process. The topics discuss areas that require specific attention during the COVID-19 pandemic such as the use of smart pumps and automated dispensing cabinets.

Hidden medication loss when using a primary administration set for small-volume intermittent infusions.

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. December 3, 2020;25(24).

Infusion misadministration is not always immediately evident. This story illustrates the problem of underdosing during infusions and suggests that unclear policies and lack of problem awareness contribute to the persistence of the mistake. The piece recommends education, use of data, and storytelling as tactics to reduce underdosing.

Learning from influenza vaccine errors to prepare for COVID-19 vaccination campaigns.

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. November 19, 2020;25(23):1-6.

Safety professionals encourage learning from errors to enhance the safe use of new processes and products. This article reviews vaccine error experiences and provides insight for the implementation of the COVID vaccine to help practitioners plan and activate safe vaccination processes.

ISMP Survey provides insights into preparation and admixture practices OUTSIDE the pharmacy.

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. November 5, 2020; 25(22).

Mistakes in the intravenous medication preparation process can result in patient harm. This article summarizes the results of a national survey on preparation of sterile, injectable medications or infusions in the ambulatory setting. Safety issues documented include time pressures, lack of staff training, and unreliable adherence to standards.

Safety investigations from across the pond: deep learning from England’s Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB).

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute Care Edition. October 8, 2020;25(20):1-4

In-depth investigations provide multidisciplinary insights that inform sustainable improvement opportunities. This newsletter story highlights a drug administration error examination by a dedicated office in the United Kingdom highlight the value of a commitment to deep, non-punitive analysis of patient safety incidents to enable transparency and learning.

Education is “predictably disappointing” and should never be relied upon alone to improve safety.

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. June 4, 2020;25(11).

Interventions to improve safety must include a range of tactics to ensure success. This article discusses how educational efforts alone will not reliably result in lasting change, human-centered weaknesses inherent in educational approaches and shares a model of overlapping actions required to generate sustainable system improvement.

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