ISMP Releases New Safe Practice Guidelines for Adult IV Push Medications
While much emphasis has been placed on the improvement of IV infusion safety, standardized safe practices associated with IV push injection safety remain limited. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) recently released new guidelines to help healthcare practitioners identify risks associated with adult IV push medications.
The guidelines were developed as part of a national summit held by ISMP in 2014 to address safety concerns reported through ISMP’s National Medication Errors Reporting Program and uncovered by several ISMP surveys, as well as unsafe practices and at-risk behaviors observed during onsite consultations at acute care and outpatient locations across the U.S.
Funded by a grant from BD, the summit brought together expert stakeholders, including frontline practitioners, professional organizations, regulatory agencies, and product vendors, to gain consensus on strategies for safe IV push administration of parenteral medications to adults. Participants also identified a number of unresolved issues that deserve additional study. A draft of the document was shared on ISMP’s website for public comment before being finalized.
The guidelines discuss the risks associated with IV push therapy, and present recommendations that address the following areas:
- Acquisition and distribution
- Aseptic technique
- Clinician preparation
- Labeling
- Clinician administration
- Drug information resources
- Competency assessment
- Error reporting
- Future inquiry
The guidelines also call on manufacturers to provide IV products in the most ready-to-administer form possible and to design devices and technology that promote safe IV push drug administration. Researchers are asked to take on the unanswered questions expressed by participants, leading the healthcare community to a better understanding of what places patients at risk and the corresponding evidence-based risk-reduction strategies that have proven to be the most successful.
“A number of latent system issues have contributed to the variable state of IV push injection practices—they can differ significantly not only between healthcare organizations, but even within a single organization’s individual clinical units,” says Michael Cohen, RPh, MS, ScD (hon.), DPS (hon.), FASHP, president of ISMP. “Through dedicated commitment to standardization, we can significantly improve patient outcomes and prevent errors.”
“BD shares ISMP’s goal of reducing the risks associated with IV push medication errors,” said William A. Tozzi, worldwide president, BD Medical – Medication and Procedural Solutions. “One of BD’s top priorities is to provide solutions that help improve medication safety, and our grant to ISMP will help support development of standardized safe practices associated with IV push medication use.”
For a copy of ISMP’s Safe Practice Guidelines for Adult IV Push Medications, visit the Institute’s website at: http://www.ismp.org/Tools/guidelines/ivsummitpush/ivpushmedguidelines.pdf