Bar code scanning for bedside admixture

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Julie Botsford
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Joined: 08/07/2009 - 10:54
Bar code scanning for bedside admixture

Is there a best practice recommendation for scanning individual ingredients vs. the final product when there is nurse admixture at the bedside?

An example: nurse has to mix an IV antibiotic prior to administration. When performing the scan, is your system process to have each ingredient scanned, or is a final product label/barcode provided to scan?

My gut feeling is that best practice would be to scan individual ingredients. There is always the possibility of a wrong product selection prior to the final admixture.

We have several small hospitals in our health-system that do not have 24/7 pharmacy and so must have nurse mix drugs. We would like to recommend a standard process across the system. Thank you for your input!

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