Identifying Safety Hazards Associated With Intravenous Vancomycin Through the Analysis of Patient Safety Event Reports

Abstract

Intravenous (IV) vancomycin is one of the most commonly used antibiotics in U.S. hospitals. There are several complexities associated with IV vancomycin use, including the need to have an accurate patient weight for dosing, to provide close monitoring to ensure appropriate drug levels, to monitor renal function, and to continue delivery of the medication at prescribed intervals. There are numerous healthcare system factors, including workflow processes, policies, health information technology, and clinical knowledge that impact the safe use of IV vancomycin. Past literature has identified several safety hazards associated with IV vancomycin use and there are some proposed solutions. Despite this literature, IV vancomycin–related safety issues persist. We analyzed patient safety event reports describing IV vancomycin–related issues in order to identify where in the medication process these issues were appearing, the type of medication error associated with each report, and general contributing factor themes. Our results demonstrate that recent safety reports are aligned with the issues already identified in the literature, suggesting that improvements discussed in the literature have not translated to clinical practice. Based on our analysis and current literature, we have developed a shareable infographic to improve clinician awareness of the complications and safety hazards associated with IV vancomycin and a self-assessment tool to support identification of opportunities to improve patient safety during IV vancomycin therapy. We also recommend development of clear guidelines to optimize health information technology systems to better support safe IV vancomycin use.