Intravenous Potassium Chloride Use in Hospitals: Current Practice

Abstract

ABSTRACTAimTo assess if current hospital practice reflected the Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Health Care's 2003 recommendation to remove potassium chloride ampoules from general wards; to identify where premixed potassium chloride infusions and ampoules are used; and if the lessons learnt and safety improvements introduced in 2003 had been sustained.Method25 hospitals in Victoria were surveyed by telephone interview in May/June 2006 regarding their use of intravenous potassium chloride. Hospitals surveyed included city and country, large and small.ResultsAll of the hospitals surveyed, apart from 2, had removed potassium chloride ampoules from their general wards at the time of the survey and 6 no longer stocked any potassium chloride ampoules. Potassium chloride ampoules tended to be used in specialty areas such as intensive care, cardiac and haematology/oncology, although this varied among hospitals. All of the hospitals were using premixed potassium chloride infusions. 23 hospitals had a potassium chloride administration policy.ConclusionThere was awareness in hospitals about the risks of intravenous potassium chloride but there was concern that staff would forget over time and hence the need for ongoing education. Further investigation into barriers to the use of premixed infusions needs to focus on specialist areas, which tend to be where potassium chloride ampoules are still used.