4. Clearer labeling
Prefilled syringes in general
have done a lot to cut down
on the safety issues associat-
ed with drawing up a
syringe, but nothing is
immune to human error. It's
easy to confuse similar
sounding or looking
syringes, especially when
there are many types of
medications on the sterile
field and you're rushing
more than you should.
That's why manufacturers
and organizations like ISMP
have started using clearer
labeling systems to help you
tell the difference between syringes.
• Tall man lettering. One of the most popular ways to make med-
ication labels easier to read is by writing medication names with
lower- and upper-case letters, differentiating between similar sounding
drugs, so you won't give a patient a medication to treat cardiac arrest
(epinephrine) when you meant to give them one that would raise their
blood pressure (ephedrine). With tall man lettering, ephedrine is writ-
ten as "ePHEDrine" and epinephrine is written as "EPINEPHrine."
That format highlights the difference between the medications' names
and downplays their similarities (-rine).
The use of tall man lettering has been increasing in popularity over
M a r c h 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 7 5
• SAFE DRUGS Prefilled syringes come ready for use, with tamper-proof
caps that ensure no one has already entered the devices.
Sheldon
Sones,
RPh,
FASCP
