The effect of a multifaceted educational intervention on medication preparation and administration errors in neonatal intensive care.

Objective: To examine the effect of a multifaceted educational intervention on the incidence of medication preparation and administration errors in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Design: Prospective study with a preintervention and postintervention measurement using direct observation.

Setting: NICU in a tertiary hospital in the Netherlands.

Incidence and nature of medication errors in neonatal intensive care with strategies to improve safety: a review of the current literature.

Neonates are highly vulnerable to medication errors because of their extensive exposure to medications in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), the general lack of evidence on pharmacotherapeutic interventions in neonates and the lack of neonate-specific formulations. We searched PubMed and EMBASE to identify relevant original studies published in the English language. Eleven studies were identified on the frequency of medication errors in the NICU.