An Interface for Reducing Errors in Intravenous Drug Administration

Input errors occur with drug infusion pumps when nurses or technicians incorrectly input the prescribed therapy through the control panel. Such number copying tasks are cognitively and visually demanding, errors are easily introduced and the process is often perceived as laborious. Stressful working conditions and poorly designed control panels will further add to the chance of error. An alternative scheme is proposed herein, termed intravenous prescription phrase, based on dictionary coding. Instead of copying number sequences the user copies sequences of familiar words such that the cognitive load on the user is reduced by a factor of five. The strategy is capable of detecting errors and is easy to implement.