Investigations on the impact of smart infusion pumps towards the improvement of infusion safety in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

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ABSTRACT Medication errors occurring during the administration phase of the medication process may now be the most frequent type of mistake occurring in hospitals, and they have considerable potential for injury. In particular, medication errors are potentially more harmful and have a higher incidence rate in the pediatric population than in the adult population. Infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are among the most vulnerable patient population. Smart infusion pumps (smart pumps) have been implemented to support the safe medication administration process. Although smart infusion pumps are used widely, these devices have not achieved their full safety potential, as medication administration errors persist. Additionally, the prevalence of device-related errors and their consequences for patients are still not well- defined. Like adult studies, there is a paucity of evidence demonstrating the ability of these technologies to reduce harm to pediatric inpatients. The objective of this study is to refine an existing data collection tool that has been tested in adult settings to investigate the frequency and types of IV medication errors associated with medication administration using smart pumps for neonatal care. Once we develop the data collection tool, we will conduct pilot data collection to validate the tool and to identify the current issues of medication administration with smart pumps in the NICU at one academic medical center. Through the development of the data collection tool and assessment of the preliminary results, this study will provide the foundation for a larger multisite study that will broadly define IV medication administration errors in the NICU and develop strategies to improve the prevention of IV medication administration errors in the neonatal care setting. The proposed study will provide a standardized neonatal-specific data collection tool to identify IV medication administration errors and their key factors to improve medication safety in NICUs to reduce potential harm for vulnerable neonatal infants.