AORN Earns ISMP 2005 Cheers Award for its Safe Medication Administration Tool Kit

DENVER -- The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) has awarded one of its 2005 Cheers Awards to the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) for its Safe Medication Administration Tool Kit. The Cheers Awards honor individuals, organizations, companies and agencies that have set a standard of excellence for others to follow in the prevention of medication errors and other adverse events.

The ISMP, a nonprofit organization made up of pharmacists, nurses and physicians that works to learn about and prevent medication errors, will present the Cheers Awards to AORN and other 2005 award winners at an awards dinner Dec. 6, 2005 in Las Vegas. Past award winners from organizations include American Hospital Association, Committee on Quality of Health Care, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the U.S Food and Drug Association.

AORN released the Safe Medication Administration Tool Kit in June and brought attention to safe medication administration through its 2005 National Time Out Day efforts. The Safe Medication Administration Tool Kit, designed specifically for perioperative patient care, enables nurses to enhance their perioperative medication competencies, expand awareness of safe medication administration and address issues related to medication practices from a surgical perspective.

A committee with members from AORNs Presidential Commission on Patient Safety and the Work Place Safety Task Force came together to design the tool kit, which was produced under an educational grant from Sandel Medical Industries.

The kit includes:

-- Two CD-ROMs with information on reducing medication errors and administering perioperative medication

-- A self-directed learning module on common perioperative medication categories

-- A pocket guide on frequently used medication conversions and calculations

-- An herbal/dietary supplement-drug interaction poster

-- The AORN Guidance Statement on Safe Medication Practices in the Perioperative Practice Setting

-- The Institute of Safe Medication Practices list of dangerous abbreviations

-- A list of Web sites and clinical medication references

AORN members can download the tool kit at http://www.aorn.org/toolkit/safemed

Source: AORN