Medication Administration Article Circulates Across Switzerland

• 3/26/2010
• Author: Steven Berman
• Category: The Journal Blog
• 13261 Views
• 0 Comments
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To follow up on the previous blog, I have recently learned that Dr. David Schwappach, the Scientific Head of the Swiss Patient Safety Foundation, has selected the Kliger et al. article, “Empowering Frontline Nurses: A Structured Intervention Enables Nurses to Improve Medication Administration Accuracy” (December 2009 issue of the Journal), as “Paper of the Month.” This means that the foundation has informed its approximately 3,000 listserv recipients of the article and has provided an extended summary and discussion of the article in French and German, which has also been reprinted in several German-language journals.

Dr. Schwappach told me that the article “tackles a very well-known problem and presents a clear, practice-oriented intervention and builds on the expertise of frontline staff.” He continued, “A few years ago, when I was developing a study in oncology medication administration safety, for a few days I observed the processes and conditions under which nurses prepare chemotherapy drugs. I was stunned by the working conditions in which the nurses' efforts tried to maintain their concentration while everybody was coming in and out the room, talking to each other, requesting information, and interrupting the highly sensitive medication preparation processes. I felt that we are working with drugs of the future under conditions of the early 20th century.

The Kliger et al. article, I felt, needs to be spread to the front line! For me, one of its main messages is, “We can make a difference! And sometimes, straightforward solutions work!”  He added that he has already received word from many professionals responsible for medication administration safety in hospitals and nursing homes that they are involved in similar projects or are thinking about translating the intervention described in the article to their own institutions. Well, spread of good practices is what the Journal is all about, and I would like to hear your own accounts of how spread is working for you.