The 2012 Landscape of I.V. Medication Safety: Processes, Tools, and Training

Rita Shane, Pharm.D., FASHP, FCSHP, is Director of Pharmacy Services at Cedars- Sinai Medical Center, a 950-bed acute, tertiary care, teaching institution in Los Angeles, California, and Assistant Dean, Clinical Pharmacy Services, at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), School of Pharmacy.

Dr. Shane has been recognized for her passion for the profession. Most recently, she received the 2012 Harvey A. K. Whitney Award. She is also the recipient of the 2007 California Society of Health-System Pharmacists (CSHP) Pharmacist of the Year Award and the 2007 Distinguished Service Award from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Section of Pharmacy Practice Managers. Dr. Shane was the 2005 recipient of the ASHP Distinguished Leadership Award and the 1995 recipient of the John Webb Visiting Professorship in Hospital Pharmacy for management excellence.

Dr. Shane is a co-investigator in two research studies in collaboration with the UCSF School of Pharmacy and approved by the California State Board of Pharmacy to demonstrate the safety and importance of allowing technicians to check technician-filled medication cassettes in hospitals. She also worked collaboratively with CSHP to author language in support of this regulatory change which was approved by the State of California effective in January 2007. Dr. Shane was co-investigator of a 2000 National Patient Safety Foundation Research Award to study the impact of dedicated medication nurses on the rate of medication administration errors in a randomized, controlled trial, the results of which were subsequently published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Dr. Shane recently served as the United States facilitator at the Global Conference on the Future of Hospital Pharmacy held during the 68th Congress of the International Pharmaceutical Federation and was responsible for reviewing the international literature on the subject of medication administration. She is an investigator in a multicenter study of medications errors recovered by emergency department pharmacists which was published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. Throughout her career, Dr. Shane has participated on committees and task forces at the state and national level. She recently was a member of the American Hospital Association Committee on Health Professions and the National Quality Forum Patient Safety Advisory Committee. She is the ASHP representative to The Joint Commission Hospital Professional Technical Committee. She has presented at local, state, national, and international meetings and has published a number of papers in the pharmacy literature including one of the background papers for the recent ASHP Pharmacy Practice Model Summit.

Luci A. Power, M.S., B.S.Pharm., is an independent lecturer and consultant on pharmacy intravenous (i.v.) and hazardous drug systems. Prior to this role, Ms. Power served in a variety of capacities at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco Department of Pharmaceutical Services for over 25 years. She was Senior Pharmacist and Manager of I.V. Additive Services, where she was responsible for the compounding of inpatient i.v. therapy and developed chemotherapy and other hazardous drug compounding services for both inpatients and outpatients. As Senior Pharmacist and Manager of Parenteral Support Services, Ms. Power designed, implemented, and managed an off-campus, USP Chapter <797> -compliant compounding center producing TPN and batch i.v. doses for two campuses, as well as supporting the continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) service.

Ms. Power has been a member of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) for over 30 years. She is a primary author of both the 1985 and 1990 ASHP Technical Assistance Bulletins on Handling Cytotoxic and Hazardous Drugs; lead author of the 2006 ASHP Guidelines on Handling Hazardous Drugs; and first author of the ASHP Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs Video Training Program. Ms. Power is also a contributing author to the second and third editions of ASHP’s text entitled, Compounding Sterile Preparations.

Ms. Power is an original member of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) working group on hazardous drugs. As the group leader for the Work Practices small group, she was an author of the 2004 NIOSH Alert: Preventing Occupational Exposures to Antineoplastic and Other Hazardous Drugs in Health Care Settings.

Ms. Power has research interests in closed system transfer devices and has worked with i.v. robotics for the safe compounding of hazardous and non-hazardous drugs. She serves on several advisory boards for new technology to improve both patient and worker safety. She has presented numerous programs on hazardous drugs, i.v. therapy, USP Chapter <797>, i.v. robotics, and errors in drug therapy.

Steven R. Abel, Pharm.D., FASHP, is Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, Purdue University, Associate Dean for Clinical Programs and Bucke Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Purdue University College of Pharmacy. He served as Head, Department of Pharmacy Practice, from 1996 to 2012. Dr. Abel received his Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from Purdue University, and he completed residency training at Mayo Medical Center. He completed an academic leadership fellowship through the Committee on Institutional Cooperation in 2007-2008 and an inaugural Purdue University Provost fellowship focused on faculty affairs in 2009-2010. 

Dr. Abel is passionate about student education, leadership development, and mentorship. His research focuses on the development, implementation, and evaluation of progressive pharmacy services, student enhancement of pharmacy practice, patient safety, and interprofessional collaborative strategies to improve the medication use process in any setting. Dr. Abel developed the only fully immersive USP Chapter <797> -compliant virtual cleanroom, based on video game technology, used for student education.

Dr. Abel led the team that implemented international collaboration between the Purdue University College of Pharmacy, Indiana University School of Medicine, and Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya.  Currently, two full-time faculty members sustain the most comprehensive international initiative associated within a college of pharmacy in the United States. He also specializes in ocular pharmacology. Dr. Abel has a history of active service in various pharmaceutical organizations, including the Indiana Pharmacists Alliance, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, American College of Clinical Pharmacy, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, and International Pharmaceutical Federation.