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Objective: To identify and quantify emergency room prescription errors upon patient admission in an internal medicine unit, assess their severity and causes, and evaluate their potential clinical impact., Method: Discrepancies found between emergency room and internal medicine unit prescriptions were analyzed by 4th-year resident pharmacists. Prescription errors were collected and classified according to their severity and potential morbidity, and a medical analysis of service value was performed according to Overhage's method. Furthermore, pharmacist actions regarding therapeutic regimen optimization are described., Results: Of 177 patients, 50 had prescription errors, for a total of 141 errors. Seven percent of prescriptions had an error. Mean errors per patient amounted to 0.8 (SD 1.51). Most commonly involved medications included anti-asthmatic and anti-infectious agents, and fluid therapy agents. On severity assessment 12.8% were considered severe, and 57.4% were considered significant. The main cause was omission of a needed therapy. Potential pharmacotherapeutic morbidity is related to adverse effects and cardiovascular disease. Medical assessment considered 12% very significant, and 52% significant. Pharmacist actions were directed towards effectiveness improvement in 57% of cases, and safety in 43.2% of cases., Conclusions: Emergency departments, as main entry points for patient admission to hospital, should be considered a priority in prescription quality improvement programs.

Goal: To carry out a study of how medication is administered by catheter in daily practice in our hospital. To prepare a practical guide for the administration of medication by catheter., Study Population: in-patients using enteral feeding tubes, except ICU. Study duration: 2 months., Interventions: Through a single-dose medication distribution system, the nutrition team's pharmacist prospectively collects the data on the medication of patients subjected to enteral feeding through a catheter and compares these data with the nursing record and, if the medication has been incorrectly handled, makes the pertinent recommendations. Using the information obtained from the pharmaceutical industry and a review of the literature, a guide is drawn up for the medicines used with catheters., Results: The study was carried out with 25 patients receiving enteral nutrition. A total of 55 different pharmaceutical preparations were used. Administration was correct in 116 of the 123 medicines prescribed (91%); the other 5 drugs (9%) were incorrectly handled. A total of 16 alterations were recommended in 25 patients (64 recommendations/100 patients), of which 9 involved a change of pharmaceutical form from solid to liquid, 4 were due to incorrect handling of the solid form, 2 because of interaction between the medication and enteral nutrition and 1 because of interaction between concomitant medications. A guide was drawn up for the administration of medication by catheter, covering a total of 179 active substances and 197 pharmaceutical products., Conclusions: The presence of a pharmacist in clinical units facilitates the detection and solution of problems associated with the administration of medication via catheters. The preparation of a handbook as a tool for the intra-catheter administration of medicines is a useful starting point for improving the use of medication and facilitating nursing tasks.