Promoting Safety of the PN Use Process Through Nutrition Support Competencies

Parenteral nutrition (PN) is a high alert medication that is commonly used in the hospital and home care settings and is a life-sustaining therapy for patients who cannot meet their nutrition and hydration needs by oral or enteral means or have contraindications to enteral therapy. The PN use process (ordering, order review, compounding, and administration) is associated with risk, however the use of evidence based protocols for PN management focus on minimizing PN related errors and have demonstrated that PN can be safely used in appropriate patients. Safe and effective use of PN requires input from skilled clinicians of multiple disciplines. Ensuring the competency of all team members is essential to promoting safe practices and maximizing clinical outcomes throughout the PN use process. This webinar will focus on strategies for ensuring competency in PN ordering, order review and verification, compounding, and administration to patients. It will also discuss methods of evaluating the competency of clinicians involved in providing PN within an institution.

Objectives:

• Identify procedures for PN ordering, order verification, compounding, and administration that promote safe PN practices.
• Describe risk mitigation strategies for PN ordering, order verification, compounding, and administration
  
• Construct a method to assess and maintain competency for clinicians involved in providing PN