Intravenous smart pumps (IVSP) are widely used to care for acutely ill patients, yet the most commonly used models heavily depend on bedside setup for accurate intravenous (IV) medication dosing. The practice of moving IVSP outside of patient rooms became a common practice during the COVID-19 pandemic to improve clinician workflow and safety. Yet the implications for the accuracy of IV medication administration were not considered. This session will present important concepts that are imperative for infusion nurses to understand to improve the safety and accuracy of IV medication administration.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: 

1. Describe IVSP setup requirements and implications for the safest and most accurate IVSP use.
2. Evaluate how the IVSP setup impacts flow rate accuracy and prepare to adjust practice to improve patient safety.
3. Describe how IVSP use outside of patient rooms impacts IV medication administration.

Contact Hours: 1
CRNI® RUs: 2