• A L Davey, A Britland, and R J Naylor.
• Airedale General Hospital, Skipton Road, Steeton, Keighley BD20 0HT, UK. amanda.davey@anhst.nhs.uk
• Qual Saf Health Care. 2008 Apr 1; 17 (2): 146-9.

BackgroundIn paediatric inpatients, medication errors occur as frequently as 1 in 4.2 drug orders, with up to 80% of these being prescribing errors.ContextThe children's unit of a district general hospital in West Yorkshire, UK.Key Measures For ImprovementPrescribing errors and preventable adverse drug eventsStrategies For Change(1) The introduction of a junior doctor prescribing tutorial. (2) The introduction of a bedside prescribing guideline.Effects Of ChangeThe introduction of the junior doctor prescribing tutorial decreased the prescribing errors by 46%. The introduction of a bedside prescribing guideline did not decrease prescribing errors but may have been helpful to those doctors unable to attend a prescribing tutorial.Lessons LearntBy investing time and providing appropriate written resources, we have been able to reduce our paediatric prescribing errors on the children's ward by almost half.

16 keywords...

hide…