# Investigations on the impact of smart infusion pumps towards the improvement of infusion safety in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

> **NIH NIH R03** · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · 2020 · $89,500

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Medication errors occurring during the administration phase of the medication process may now
be the most frequent type of mistake occurring in hospitals, and they have considerable
potential for injury. In particular, medication errors are potentially more harmful and have a
higher incidence rate in the pediatric population than in the adult population. Infants in the
neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are among the most vulnerable patient population. Smart
infusion pumps (smart pumps) have been implemented to support the safe medication
administration process. Although smart infusion pumps are used widely, these devices have not
achieved their full safety potential, as medication administration errors persist. Additionally, the
prevalence of device-related errors and their consequences for patients are still not well-
defined. Like adult studies, there is a paucity of evidence demonstrating the ability of these
technologies to reduce harm to pediatric inpatients.
The objective of this study is to refine an existing data collection tool that has been tested in
adult settings to investigate the frequency and types of IV medication errors associated with
medication administration using smart pumps for neonatal care. Once we develop the data
collection tool, we will conduct pilot data collection to validate the tool and to identify the current
issues of medication administration with smart pumps in the NICU at one academic medical
center. Through the development of the data collection tool and assessment of the preliminary
results, this study will provide the foundation for a larger multisite study that will broadly define
IV medication administration errors in the NICU and develop strategies to improve the
prevention of IV medication administration errors in the neonatal care setting. The proposed
study will provide a standardized neonatal-specific data collection tool to identify IV medication
administration errors and their key factors to improve medication safety in NICUs to reduce
potential harm for vulnerable neonatal infants.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9986856
- **Project number:** 5R03HD099514-02
- **Recipient organization:** BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Kumiko Ohashi Schnock
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $89,500
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-01 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9986856

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9986856, Investigations on the impact of smart infusion pumps towards the improvement of infusion safety in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (5R03HD099514-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9986856. Licensed CC0.

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