Premium
Nationwide Survey of Hospital Practices When Compounding Parenteral Nutrition Solutions in Latex‐Allergic Patients
Author(s) -
ElAtti Samia Abd,
Martinelli Barbara,
Yourich Bryan,
Wasicek Kelley,
Weber Robert
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
nutrition in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1941-2452
pISSN - 0884-5336
DOI - 10.1177/0115426506021005513
Subject(s) - medicine , pharmacy , compounding , latex allergy , hospital pharmacy , telephone survey , family medicine , parenteral nutrition , medical emergency , nursing , intensive care medicine , allergy , business , marketing , immunology
We surveyed 100 institutions in 50 states, varying in size from 50 to 1000 beds. The purpose of this survey was to examine the policies and techniques hospitals used in confirming latex allergy (LA) in patients and preparing parenteral nutrition (PN) for LA patients. Our survey indicated that within the institutions in our study, many inpatient pharmacists do not use any defined method for confirming LA other than what is documented in the patient profile upon admission. Most inpatient pharmacies are not aware of any institutional policy concerning parenteral medications in LA patients, and some do not identify the importance of LA in preparing PN. It is apparent from the results of this survey that uniform guidelines or practice standards for this important issue should be developed. Although the publications on LA are numerous, they mostly deal with the exposure to latex gloves or latex devices. Knowledge of preparing parenteral medications for LA patients in the literature is minimal. It is also clear that awareness and knowledge of pharmacy personnel should be enhanced. Finally, we are hoping that this survey will send a clear message to pharmacy organizations to develop guidelines or pharmacy practice standards for this issue, and for health institutions to develop policies and make them available to their personnel.