Monitoring smart infusion pumps in adult intensive care units.

Abstract

Introduction: Medication administration in intensive care units is one of the main care activities of nursing professionals. The integration of scientific knowledge, together with the use of technologies such as infusion pumps, enables the reduction of errors and improves the quality of care.

Objective: To describe the use of an infusion pump monitoring platform for medication administration in adult intensive care units at a university hospital in Bogotá, Colombia.

Materials and methods: This was an observational, retrospective study that collected 35,738 medication administration records from five intensive care units using a monitoring platform during 2023. A descriptive analysis was performed using frequencies and proportions, along with simple associations assessing compliance between medications and doses.

Results: Compliance with the drug library during the first year of the platform was 66%. The platform reported 5,589 hard-limit blocks involving high-alert medications, of which 76% were related to the administration of noradrenaline, midazolam, and fentanyl.

Discussion: The results were consistent with other studies, demonstrating drug library compliance ranging from 65% to 80% during the first year of implementation.

Conclusion: The implementation of institutional medication administration monitoring programs, using technologies integrated into infusion pumps, positively impacts patient safety, reduces costs associated with care, and continuous improvement within institutions.