• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

Provide clear, accurate information on medication labels to comply with JCAHO

Pharmacy Regulation Resource, June 30, 2005

A pharmacist reads 25 mg as he scans the medication label, but his eyes may be deceiving him.

The problem is the label actually says 2.5 mg, but the decimal point was printed so lightly that it was difficult to read. That situation underscores one of the potential barriers to complying with JCAHO medication standard MM.4.30, which requires organizations to appropriately label all medications.

A 2006 National Patient Safety Goal also requires organizations to label all medication containers on and off the sterile field.

"Make sure the labeling clearly states the drug name, strength or concentration, and total vial content, especially with injections, where the total volume is important in calculating a dose" says Diane Cousins, RPh, vice president of the Center for the Advancement of Patient Safety at the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) in Rockville, MD.

A facility's own labels can cause errors. According to data from the USP MEDMARX® error reporting system, an organization's labels on cardiovascular drugs alone contributed to 794 errors between January 2001 and August 2004.

Labeling errors on the facility's end can stem from the need to repackage a medication in unit-dose form, Cousins says.

Problems can also arise from unclear labeling, especially with injections and liquid medications, Cousins says. For example, the label may prominently state 5 mg/mL, but the nurse may never see that on the back of the vial the label indicates the total volume is 5 mL.

The nurse may draw up the entire contents of the vial, thinking she is getting 5 mg in 1 mL but is actually getting 25mg, or 5 mL, Cousins says.

Tip: Clearly mark the volume contained in each medication container.

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive