Tenfold Medication Errors: 5 Years’ Experience at a University-Affiliated Pediatric Hospital

A study of pediatric inpatient safety reports. From the abstract: “From 6643 medication-related safety reports, 252 10-fold medication errors were identified at a mean reporting rate of 0.062 per 100 total patient days. Morphine was the most frequently reported medication, and opioids were the most frequently reported drug class. Twenty-two reports described patient harm. Intravenous formulations, paper ordering, and drug-delivery pumps were frequent error enablers. Errors of dose calculation, documentation of decimal points, and confusion with zeroes were frequent contributing causes to 10-fold medication error.”

[su_cite_pediatrics url_fragment = ‘129/5/916’ author = ‘Doherty’ year = ‘2012’] | PubMed 22473367 | Author Search