Safe Prescribing
Resources and projects to reduce prescribing errors in paediatrics including dosage calculators, apps, prescription charts, guides and workbooks.
Guides and Courses
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ImPrint: Simplified Infusion Prescribing
Creating a standard, simplified monograph for prescribing high risk drugs on an intensive care unit.
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Paediatric Prescribing Pocket Guide
A paediatric prescribing pocket guide developed and implemented in a busy district general hospital in London.
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Paediatric Prescribing Principles (PPP)
An eLearning module aimed at all pediatricians, from trainee to consultant, and any health professionals with a role in prescribing drugs for children and young people.
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Paediatric SCRIPT
Paediatric SCRIPT (Standard Computerised Revalidation Instrument for Prescribing and Therapeutics) is an interactive web-based eLearning programme for paediatric trainee doctors, but relevant to all healthcare professionals prescribing in this specialty.
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Safe Paediatric Prescribing Course for South East Scotland
An e-learning module on safe paediatric prescribing for healthcare professionals working in South East Scotland.
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Maintaining Standards in Prescribing Neonatal Drugs
The prescribing workbook is issued to all new neonatal doctors who commence work in the Trust to encourage good prescribing practice.
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Checklists and Charts
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Adjustable Dosing Insulin Prescribing Chart
A prescription chart to enable all doctors to understand and safely prescribe variable dose insulin regimens to patients using both subcutaneous injections and insulin pumps.
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Neonatal Vancomycin Prescription Chart
A prescription chart developed to be a safe and effective tool for the prescribing and administration of vancomycin in neonates.
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Immunisations Prescription Chart
A prescription chart to ensure that all routine immunisations required to be administered as an inpatient are delivered on-time.
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Neonatal Gentamicin Chart
A prescription chart developed to standardise the prescription and administration of gentamicin in neonatal patients.
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Paediatric Prescribing Error: An Audit Tool
We developed this tool to assess and categorise prescribing errors occurring in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
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Workbook on Safer Prescribing for Paediatric Doctors
The prescribing workbook is issued to all new neonatal and paediatric doctors who commence work in the Trust.
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Dosage Calculators and Apps
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Emergency Drug Dose Calculator
This is an emergency drug calculator tool used by the South Thames Retrieval Service which moves critically ill children around the South Thames region. In addition to performing transfers of critically ill children, the STRS provides advice on the management of these children within the DGHs.
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36 Hour Gentamicin Calculator
This tool has been used to check safe prescription of gentamicin by medical staff on the general paediatrics and special care baby units. It is also used by nursing staff to ensure administration times are accurate and safe.
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New Zealand Emergency Bolus and Infusion Calculators
New Zealand has a single national PICU retrieving all critically ill children. The emergency drug calculator is used to calculate emergency drug doses and volumes based on weight and age.
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SORT Emergency Drug Calculator
As a junior doctor managing critically unwell children involves the use of a range of drugs that are often unfamiliar and have weight dependant dose calculations. In the acute situation the calculations can serve as a distraction from the clinical scenario and are a common source of error.
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Neonatal Electronic Dose Calculator
Electronic dose calculators designed for doctors and nursing staff as easy to use tools, providing a quick guide to doses of emergency drugs that a neonate may need.
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Glucose Admixture Calculator
The calculation on non-standard glucose concentration e.g. 12.5% or 17.5% presented a problem. These concentrations were very seldom needed, so it was necessary to perform the calculation very rarely, adding to the risk of error.
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Leicester Children’s Emergency Department Drug Calculator
It was recognised that a print out of a prescription compliant chart of the drugs needed to manage the critically unwell child was needed.
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NeoMate
NeoMate is a smartphone app that aims to improve outcomes for newborn babies who require intensive care following birth. The app offers drug and fluid calculations, guides, and concise checklists to guide acute neonatal care.
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Prescribing Errors
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The DRUG-gle (Druggle)
While incepting the safety huddle on the paediatric ward, it was noted that a key member of the ward team is the pharmacist, and a specific medication-focussed safety ‘huddle’ could be a valuable intervention to reduce drug errors.
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STAMP: Continuous Improvement Approach to Paediatric Prescribing
An ongoing quality improvement project focusing on paediatric prescribing and medication safety for medical, surgical and oncology patients in a district general hospital.
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Improving Paediatric Prescribing in a Low Resource Setting
A quality improvement project to improve paediatric prescribing undertaken on the paediatric ward of a Kenyan district general hospital for patients aged 0-12 years.
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Weekly Reviews to Improve Paediatric Prescribing
An ongoing project to improve paediatric prescribing, involving all doctors prescribing for children at University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire.
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Distractions During Prescribing in a Paediatric Critical Care Unit
A one-week prospective, non-blinded audit looking at the frequency and nature of prescribing errors on a paediatric critical care unit with interventions implemented and outcomes re-audited.
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Improving Paediatric Prescribing on a General Paediatric Ward
Improving prescribing standards on a general paediatrics ward where multiple patient safety issues around prescribing were highlighted in a busy inner city children’s hospital using a PDSA approach.
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Preventing Alteration of Paediatric Prescriptions
Preventing alteration of paediatric medical prescriptions in a general paediatric ward where medication incidents represented around 1 in 5 of reported incidents.
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Improving Prescribing Error in a Paediatric Teaching Hospital
Improving prescribing errors in a paediatric teaching hospital, delivering targeted training for doctors and nurses to reinforce standards.
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Prescribing Support for Doctors Rotating Through Child Health
Introducing an induction talk for FY1/2 and SHO doctors, including a short assessment to check they can prescribe and feel confident in doing so.
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Zero Tolerance Prescribing
Introducing a policy of zero tolerance to prescribing errors in a children’s hospital in Brighton through constructive feedback from senior colleagues.
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Reducing Prescribing Errors in Junior Doctors
Significant reduction in errors using a programme of written assessments in prescribing skills and individualised feedback for doctors.
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Prescription of Intravenous Fluid for Administration in Children
A local guideline and patient safety improvement project to ensure adherence to guidelines in prescribing IV fluids.
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