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Accidents and Incidents Related to Intravenous Drug Administration: A Pre–Post Study Following Implementation of Smart Pumps in a Teaching Hospital

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Abstract

Introduction

Smart pumps are expected to prevent and reduce medication errors. The implementation of smart pumps requires a significant effort and collaboration of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other stakeholders.

Objectives

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of new smart pumps on reported drug-related accidents and incidents (AIs).

Method

This is a descriptive retrospective pre–post study conducted at a women’s and pediatric hospital with 500 beds. A strong multidisciplinary team (nurse, pharmacist, pharmacy resident, physician, biomedical technician, information technology technician, patient safety officer, manager) was involved in the planning, implementation, and monitoring technology implementation. A total of 1045 smart pumps were implemented in 2011 in our hospital. The reported number of AIs related to intravenous drug administration (AIIV) before and after the implementation of 1045 smart pumps were collected.

Results

A total of 2911 AI events related to medications, devices, and equipment were self-reported by clinical staff in the pre-phase (Y0), 3523 in the post-phase (Y1), and 2788 in the post-phase (Y2). The total AIIV increased from 1432 in Y0 to 1834 in Y1 and decreased to 1389 in Y2.

Conclusions

We observed no risk reduction associated with the implementation of smart pumps in a 500 bed mother–child hospital. Further studies are required to explore the details of the potential risk reduction associated with the use of smart pumps.

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Acknowledgments

The manuscript does not contain clinical studies or patient data.

Competing interests

Aurélie Guérin, Julien Tourel, Emmanuelle Delage, Stéphanie Duval, Marie Johanne David, Denis Lebel, and Jean-François Bussières have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this study.

Funding

The authors declare that they did not receive funding for this work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pharmacy Department and Pharmacy Practice Research Unit, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, 3175, chemin de la Côte Sainte-Catherine, Montréal, QC, H3T 1C5, Canada

    Aurélie Guérin, Julien Tourel, Emmanuelle Delage, Stéphanie Duval, Denis Lebel & Jean-François Bussières

  2. Medical and Academic Affairs, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Marie-Johanne David

  3. Faculty of Pharmacy, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Jean-François Bussières

Authors
  1. Aurélie Guérin
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  2. Julien Tourel
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  3. Emmanuelle Delage
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Correspondence to Aurélie Guérin.

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Guérin, A., Tourel, J., Delage, E. et al. Accidents and Incidents Related to Intravenous Drug Administration: A Pre–Post Study Following Implementation of Smart Pumps in a Teaching Hospital. Drug Saf 38, 729–736 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40264-015-0308-6

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