Table 1.
Overview of identified interventions for reducing medication errors in neonatal care.
| Intervention type | Example of intervention | References |
|---|---|---|
| Technology (n = 38) | ||
| Computerized physician order entry and clinical decision support (n = 15) | Electronic medication prescribing and atuomated dose checking | 36–50 |
| Computerized physician order entry (n = 5) | Electronic medication prescribing | 51–55 |
| Clinical decision support alone (n = 2) | Electronic tool to verify parenteral nutrition orders | 34–35 |
| Computer programmes (n = 8) | Online parenteral nutrition calculator | 23–30 |
| IV administration technology (n = 4) | Auomated infusion devices | 19–22 |
| Barcoding (n = 3) | Barcode medication administration system | 31–33 |
| Organizational (n = 16) | ||
| Guidelines, policies, and procedures (n = 9) | Development of preformatted medication order sheets | 56–64 |
| Medication distribution and supply (n = 6) | Preparation of prediluted medications for administration | 65–70 |
| Nurse prescribing (n = 1) | Transcription of paper-based orders to electronic orders by nursing staff | 71 |
| Personnel (n = 13) | ||
| Staff education (n = 13) | Personalized feedback of medication prescribing errors | 72–84 |
| Pharmacy (n = 9) | ||
| Ward based (n = 6) | Interventions identified through introduction of ward-based paediatric/neonatal clinical pharmacy service | 85–90 |
| Dispensary based (n = 3) | Interventions identified through dispensary-based pharmacy service | 91–93 |
| Hazard and risk analysis (n = 8) | ||
| Quality improvement tools (n = 4) | Use of failure modes, effects, and criticality analyses to redesign care processes | 10,95–97 |
| Error detection tools (n = 3) | Automated detection of medication errors | 93,98–99 |
| Safe learning systems (n = 1) | Critical incident reports of medication errors | 94 |
| Multifactorial (n = 18) | ||
| GPPs + education (n = 7) | Standardized IV infusion concentration list with intensive education programme | 100–106 |
| GPPs + education + technology (n = 5) | Antimicrobial stewardship programme facilitated by electronic prescribing and provision of individualized real-time feedback | 107–111 |
| GPPs + education + pharmacy (n = 4) | Preprinted medication order sheets with increase in clinical pharmacy services and provision of real-time feedback to prescribers on medication errors | 112–115 |
| Education + pharmacy (n = 1) | Pharmacist-led education programme on medication errors and daily pharmacist review of medication orders | 117 |
| Pharmacy + technology (n = 1) | Utilization of clinical pharmacists to review and intercept any adverse drug events and electronic prescribing | 116 |
GPPs, guidelines, policies and procedures; IV, intravenous.