The Star: July 06, 2017

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www. .kiwi
Thursday July 6 2017 17
News
Making medication process safer
Vests a way to avoid interruptions
and prevent mistakes at hospital
• By Gabrielle Stuart
FOR MOST people, distractions
and interruptions while they’re
working are inevitable – but for
nurses handling medications, being
distracted at the wrong time could
prove deadly for their patients.
Canterbury District Health
Board staff are holding a series of
workshops and studies looking at
hospital medication processes, and
things that cause problems or lead
to mistakes.
They plan to use what they learn
in the rebuild and redesign of
hospital buildings in Christchurch,
in an effort to make them safer and
run more effectively.
CDHB projects nurse coordinator
Yvonne Williams said
distractions and interruptions were
one of the biggest problems nurses
had pointed out in the workshops
last month.
An Australian study found
nurses preparing or administering
medication were about 12 per cent
more likely to make a mistake
if they were interrupted during
the process – and after multiple
interruptions, the risk of making a
major error doubled.
“Our nurses doing medications
get interrupted a lot, and we know
every interruption can lead to an
error,” Ms Willams said.
“So we’re looking at ways we can
work with staff to make things better
for them and safer, and reduce
the number of errors that occur,”
she said.
She said some of the suggestions
being looked at were simple, like
“do not disturb” vests that nurses
could wear while working with
medicines, or making sure all
equipment needed was stored in
the same place.
Others involved the design of the
new wards, around where medication
rooms were placed and how
they were laid out.
The new electronic systems
being rolled out throughout the
hospital could help in some ways
– like sending alarms and alerts
when things were missed – but it
threw up its own challenges, she
said.
Ms Williams said workshops
were held last month with about 30
staff from the child health department,
and staff from other areas
would be involved progressively
over the next several months.
CONCENTRATION: Nurse Toby Hilton wears one of the
new do not disturb vests while preparing medication at
Christchurch Hospital, brought in to help prevent mistakes.
PHOTO: MARTIN HUNTER
Dead birds
a mystery
• By Georgia O’Connor-Harding
MYSTERY surrounds
hundreds of birds found dead
in a Leeston cemetery.
But authorities will not be
investigating what caused the
birds to die.
Resident Myles White was out
walking his dog when he found
rings of dead european greenfinches
around the trees at the
Ellesmere Public Cemetery.
“They were in the process of
dying, squeaking and stuff. It
was bloody gross,” he said.
Environment Canterbury, the
district council, the Department
of Conservation, Forest
and Bird and Green Party MP
Eugenie Sage were contacted by
Mr White.
But because the birds are
an unprotected species, the
incident has been deemed a
forgotten case.
The district council referred
the matter to DOC.
A DOC spokeswoman said
it was not appropriate for it to
investigate because it did not
involve public conservation
land or protected species.
Mr White suspected the birds
had died from poison to protect
crops in the area.
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