The Medication Safety Officer's Handbook

The medication safety officer's arena is fascinating, challenging, and ever-evolving. Whether you are new to medication safety or an experienced Medication Safety Officer (MSO), this guide will be an invaluable resource. The Medication Safety Officer's Handbook offers expert guidance in every area of your work, from setting up safety systems to dealing with personnel problems, along with sample forms, checklists, and other job tools. You will learn not only strategies for making changes, but also systems for error reporting and analysis and guidance on managing adverse outcomes. Written by experts for pharmacists and nurses who oversee medication safety, it is the essential reference for all MSOs. Get the answers you want at your fingertips, on questions such as: * What are all the responsibilities of an MSO? * How do I prioritize? * With no formal authority, how do I make changes? * How do I design a template for a modified root cause analysis? * What should be included in a medication safety orientation for staff? * Where is the most trustworthy information on a particular safety topic? With this how-to guide, you can find detailed information for all areas of medication safety, from automated dispensing cabinet override criteria to examples of a Sentinel Event alert gap analysis. With the Medications Safety Officer's Handbook by your side, you are never at a loss for answers.
About the Author: Connie M. Larson, BS, PharmD

Connie M. Larson, BS, PharmD, is the Medication Safety Officer for the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System in Chicago, Illinois. She is the Associate Director of Quality and Safety for Hospital Pharmacy Services. She earned her BS and PharmD in Pharmacy from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy.

Connie's interest in medication safety started early in her career while working in areas taking care of critically ill patients and other vulnerable patient populations such as pediatric and neonatal patients. She brings 25 years of medication safety expertise to her current position, where she provides leadership in medication safety initiatives, medication-use technologies, and operational management. Connie also introduces medication safety practices to students and residents through experiential rotations and teaching at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy.

Deb Saine, MS, FASHP, FSMSO, is the Medication Safety Officer at Valley Health/Winchester Medical Center in Winchester, Virginia, where she provides leadership in medication safety initiatives and medication-use technologies. Her professional experience includes clinical, medication safety, and administrative roles for critical access, community and academic medical centers. She earned her BS in Pharmacy from the University of Toledo, and an MS in Management from Antioch University.

Ms. Saine has authored numerous articles and has presented internationally on the topic of medication safety. She is a reviewer for literature in her field, and is the editor of ASHP's Safety and Quality Pearls 2. She has been Chair of the ASHP Section of Inpatient Care Practitioners, and is a Past-President of the New Hampshire Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Deb has served the pharmacy profession in state and national leadership roles, and was recognized as a Fellow of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists in 2011 and Fellow of the American Society of Medication Safety Officers in 2012.