Use of safety strategies to identify children for drug administration

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To understand the use of safety strategies in child identification for drug administration.METHODS: In this cross-sectional study at a pediatric unit, drugs were distributed in a centralized and unique manner. We conducted 373 observations of the process for preparing and distributing drugs carried out by 25 nursing professionals.RESULTS: The pharmacy had distributed 198 (53.1%) medicines without identifying the drugs' label, which, while in storage, was identified with the child's first name handwritten on adhesive tape. At the time of drug preparation, the professional transcribed the drug's name as described in the prescription to the drug label for 173 (90.6%) observations of injectable drug preparation and 161 (88.5%) observations of preparation of oral drugs. Information regarding the five rights of medication administration and preparation, such as the full name of the child, appeared on 10.7% of drug labels.CONCLUSION: No safety strategies to identify children during drug administration were found, nor were any standards for data identification observed.