CoxHealth ups safety of IVs

The Medley Medication Safety System will regulate the rate at which fluid medications are administered to patients through IVs.

A drug library will contain information about the safe dosage of each medication for patients according to their ages and conditions. If a nurse administers a dosage that doesn’t comply, an alarm sounds.

“Humans can sometimes miss something, and this is really a computer that is a double and triple check,” said Joan Cisna, CoxHealth vice president of nursing services and chief nursing officer. “(Infusion errors) do happen in every hospital, and they can be very serious because medication gets into the blood stream very quickly.”

Cisna said the system prevents 80 percent to 90 percent of infusion errors.

Cox is the first Missouri hospital to implement the system. The system will be up and running after training is completed in 90 to 120 days, Cisna said.

For related coverage from July 14, 2005, click here.

For related coverage from July 11, 2005, click here.