Our NICU and informatics team celebrated another successful implementation recently, with the ability to monitor the status of medication infusion, in real time, as part of the baby’s electronic health record. Our NICU, which cares for over 1000 preterm babies a year, is the first in Canada to implement the system. It will reduce the potential for documentation errors that may contribute to patient safety risks, support faster clinical decision making, and promote greater pharmacy/nursing communication and collaboration in the management of infusions.
“It is a very exciting project for the NICU that will help to reduce redundancies in charting and potentially decrease errors,” says Elena Nikolsky, Nursing Unit Administrator of the NICU. “It will also help to increase the safety of our infants by providing and the most up-to date information to support timely decision-making regarding patient status.”
Teamwork and collaboration were major contributors to the success of the Infusion Management Project, according to Reshma Prashad, Project Manager with informatics. “The NICU staff adopted the system very well from the start and quickly became comfortable with using it. This is a testament to the education and hands-on training provided by both departments.”
“It has been many years since our teams imagined this project and it’s tremendously exciting to see it come to life. Congratulations to all those who were instrumental in leading and implementing this system,” added Joanne Mackenzie, Senior Director, Women’s and Infants.