Serious Medication Errors in Pediatrics: Evaluation of Prevention Strategies

This is a prospective cohort study at Children's Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), before and after the introduction of two distinct interventions. The first intervention at Children's Hospital was the introduction of clinical pharmacists on inpatient pediatric wards to target errors at the stages of physician ordering and nurse transcription. The second intervention is technological: the introduction of physician computer order entry at the BWH neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). This intervention will most effectively target errors at the stage of physician ordering, and secondarily address errors at the stage of pharmacy dispensing and nurse transcription. Data on serious medication errors will be collected pre and post each intervention.