Medication safety: just a label away

IN PERIOPERATIVE SETTINGS, medications are removed from manufacturers' identifying containers; therefore, scrub personnel should label medications placed on the sterile field.COMPLIANCE WITH MEDICATION labeling practices with the use of both blank and preprinted labels was tested in the OR at a Houston, Texas, hospital.SCRUB PERSONNEL WERE more likely to label medications and medication-delivery devices when preprinted medication labels were provided.DATA OBTAINED FROM this project influenced the hospital's management team to supply preprinted labels for all procedures to improve safety for surgical patients.