Overriding Epidurals in L&D

PLEASE NOTE:   Posts made to this forum should not be considered as the expressed opinions of, nor should be considered endorsed by, the Medication Safety Officer’s Society (MSOS) or the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP). 

Make sure your email is up-to-date
In order to continue to receive updates from MSOS, as well as forum posts and other valuable information as a member of MSOS, please be sure to update your email address with us, whenever it changes. If you need assistance doing so, please send an email to cmichalek@ismp.org

1 post / 0 new
Sara Meyer
Sara Meyer's picture
Offline
Last seen: 19 hours 46 min ago
Joined: 08/29/2022 - 16:09
Overriding Epidurals in L&D

We have found that a large percentage of epidurals in L&D are "overridden" prior to pharmacy verification. We use a standard formula (but use different rates/PCEA parameters so cant use a standing order), so I don't have huge safety concerns other than the missing allergy check since anesthesia programs the pump but would like to reduce these overrides if possible. Anesthesia says they don't have time to see the patient/put in orders/wait for pharmacy verification prior to placement. Some of it may be "cultural" in that nurses just want everything ready for anesthesia when they get to the room. Has anyone had a similar situation and been able to address override culture in this setting?