Hospital Pharmacy

Drugs added to intravenous (IV) solutions are prepared in a clean air hood to reduce the possibility of contamination. The pharmacists provide current drug information, consult with physicians and nurses, assist with dosing calculations, and monitor patients for optimal drug therapy.

QUESTION: I have read that medical errors are a growing problem. What is Kern Valley Healthcare District doing to make sure mistakes are not made during my hospitalization?

ANSWER: Kern Valley Healthcare District devotes a lot of attention to performance improvement. Each department is responsible for anticipating potential problems and putting necessary procedures in place to make sure the risk or adverse outcomes are reduced to the lowest possible levels.

Last year a national report from the Institute of Medicine warned of the possibilities for adverse drug events (ADE’s) to occur. An ADE can be preventable, such as a medication error, or not preventable, such as an unexpected adverse drug reaction to a medication. At Kern Valley Healthcare District, we are analyzing the occurrence of medication errors (e.g. neglecting to administer a medication at the right time or administering the wrong dosage of a drug) and adverse drug reactions (e.g. allergic reaction to penicillin). As a result of this project, a special team has been formed to create new procedures and to reduce or eliminate factors that contribute to the occurrence of medication errors.