Submitted by Shelley Novak, medication safety pharmacist, Pharmaceutical Sciences CSU
Medication safety is a top priority to ensure maximum safety for patients and clients. That’s why Medication Management is one of the standards clearly identified — and scrutinized — by Accreditation Canada.
Last week, the Vancouver Acute Medication Safety Committee, in cooperation with VA Pharmacy and Professional Practice Nursing, sent out the first of a series of bulletins on the Medication Management Standards to all health educators.
If you haven’t seen the bulletins posted on your unit’s bulletin boards, or if want to print them for yourself, you can access them online.
Bulletin #1: 7 ROPS related to Medication Management Standards
Bulletin #1 offers more details about Accreditation Canada’s Required Organizational Practices (ROPs) in medication management standards including:
- medication concentrations
- heparin safety
- narcotic safety
- concentrated electrolytes
- NOT using specific abbreviations, symbols and dose designations using a minimum of two client identifiers before administering medication, and
- infusion pump training
Bulletin #2: Dangerous abbreviations, symbols and dose designations
Bulletin #2 gives the full list of “Do Not Use” abbreviations, symbols and dose designations, and explains why items have made the list.
For example, consider the difference in meaning between “discharge” and “discontinue.” Always write out the entire word “discharge” to prevent a misinterpretation of “D/C.”
And using decimals – well, improper usage could result in a ten-fold error in dosage.
It’s easy to see how what’s intended as a simple instruction can be misinterpreted. Review Bulletin #2 for the complete list.
All bulletins will be archived on the intranet so you can look things up at any time. Watch for Vancouver News summaries like this whenever new bulletins are posted.