PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - G. Koren
AU  - Z. Barzilay
AU  - M. Modan
TI  - Errors in computing drug doses
DP  - 1983 Oct 01
TA  - Canadian Medical Association Journal
PG  - 721--723
VI  - 129
IP  - 7
4099  - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/129/7/721.short
4100  - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/129/7/721.full
SO  - CMAJ1983 Oct 01; 129
AB  - The 85 members of the pediatric and neonatal divisions of a medical centre were tested for their ability to calculate the appropriate volumes of drugs commonly administered to pediatric patients. Of a total of 680 computations 43 (6.3%) were wrong. Half the errors would have led to either a 10-fold overdose or a dose a 10th of that prescribed. Significantly more of the errors (p less than 0.01) were made by the nurses in the neonatal division (11.5%) than by those in the pediatric division (3.4%). A deficiency in the in-service training of the nurses in the neonatal division appeared to contribute to the higher proportion of errors in this group. There was also a trend towards a greater chance of error as the length of professional experience increased. All medical personnel involved in the ordering and administration of drugs should be taught computing skills and be evaluated routinely.