3 4 S U P P L E M E N T T O O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5
A
pain doctor gives a pre-op verbal order for 500 mg of IV cefa-
zolin, but the nurse he directs the order to instead administers
500 micrograms of fentanyl because she didn't hear him cor-
rectly, and she is too intimidated to question the order. This
real-life communication breakdown is just one example of the
medication errors that continue to occur in ORs across the country. You might
Best Practices in Drug
Expert advice on proper medication
storage, security and labeling.
Rick Novak, MD | Palo Alto, Calif.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN
