An evidence-based medicine elective course to improve student performance in advanced pharmacy practice experiences.

Objective: To implement and evaluate the impact of an elective evidence-based medicine (EBM) course on student performance during advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs).

Design: A 2-hour elective course was implemented using active-learning techniques including case studies and problem-based learning, journal club simulations, and student-driven wiki pages. The small class size (15 students) encouraged independent student learning, allowing students to serve as the instructors and guest faculty members from a variety of disciplines to facilitate discussions.

Nighttime and weekend medication error rates in an inpatient pediatric population.

Background: Nighttime and weekend admission has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality and has been linked to a variety of factors. Medication errors in hospitalized patients occur frequently, but the association between error rates and time of day and day of week (weekday vs weekend) has not been extensively studied.

Objective: To compare reported medication error rates over a 1-year period between daytime versus nighttime shifts and weekday versus weekend in a children's hospital and to characterize the types of errors that occurred.

Initial vancomycin dosing in pediatric oncology and stem cell transplant patients.

Background: Gram-positive bacteremia is a common infection in pediatric oncology and stem cell transplant (SCT) patients requiring therapy with vancomycin. Optimal dosing of vancomycin in this patient population has not been well established.

Methods: All pediatric oncology and SCT patients receiving vancomycin between October 2006 and March 2007 were included in this study.

Analysis of 72-hour sterility of common pediatric continuous intravenous infusions.

Objectives: Patient morbidity and mortality associated with contaminated and improperly prepared sterile products has captured national attention. In response, both the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have published recommendations in an effort to minimize the risk of infection. While the CDC recommends that administration sets are not changed more frequently than every 72 hours, the USP recommends a maximum beyond use date of 48 hours.