An audit at Lyell McEwin and Modbury Hospitals revealed that a large number of medication incidences were related to poor prescribing practices (eg unclear/abbreviated route of administration, dose unclear or omitted).
In an effort to reduce their medication incidences Lyell McEwin and Modbury Hospitals:
• Adopted a Zero Tolerance policy to unsafe prescribing
• Spell it out, single route of administration, no modification of orders, include administration times and prescriber identification
• Refused to dispense or administer medications from non-compliant orders
• Conducted one-on-one Academic Detailing / education sessions
• Updated policy / procedure
• Distributed materials (mugs, pens, posters, stickers) to promote initiative
As a result non-compliant orders were reduced from 58% to 17%.
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