Medication Safety is one of St. Edward Mercy’s patient safety goals as well as one of the Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG). We have placed numerous safeguards within the medication administration process to prevent errors from occurring, some of these include:
A process for Medication Reconciliation
Standardization and limiting the number of drug concentrations available in the hospital
Standardization of Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) concentrations
The review of Look-Alike/Sound-Alike Drugs and take actions to prevent errors involving the interchange of these drugs
Two person verification of dosing and drugs distribution
The labeling of all medications, containers, syringes, solutions on and off the sterile field in perioperative and procedural settings
Monitoring of patient responses to newly added medications
Processes to minimize the use of verbal or telephone medication orders
An on-site licensed pharmacist 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Sterilization techniques when intravenous solutions are prepared
