The Institute for Safe Medication Practices published a guideline for drugs used during procedures, the first document of its kind, Aug. 11.
It's a "unique" set of guidelines, the ISMP said, because of "the complexity, numerous handoffs and fast pace of patient care" during procedures. To create the 25-page guidelines, the FDA funded the institute's three-year study to identify perioperative and procedural medication errors.
Medication errors happen in at least 1 of every 133 doses administered with anesthesia, which is estimated to cost hospitals $5.6 million each year, according to the ISMP.
Access the guidelines here.