None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
A 5ml slip-lock syringe with a fluorescent red plunger was introduced in Australia and New Zealand in the mid-1990s for use with muscle relaxants. Its aim was to reduce drug errors involving muscle relaxants in anaesthesia. To our knowledge, the impact of this syringe has not previously been formally evaluated. Reporting of drug errors is not mandatory in Australia and New Zealand, so it would be very difficult to determine if introducing the syringe has reduced patient deaths and suffering. The use of the syringe is not mandated. Our hypothesis is that most anaesthetists and trainees in Australia and New Zealand value the red plunger syringe as a drug safety intervention, and choose to use it voluntarily. We aim to test this hypothesis by surveying a large stratified random sample of anaesthetists and trainees across Australia and New Zealand. The survey will ask participants about availability, patterns of use, and attitudes towards the syringe. Suggestions for improving the syringe to better meet the needs of anaesthetists and trainees will also be sought. We also intend to undertake a retrospective analysis drug errors involving muscle relaxants that have been voluntarily reported to the WebAIRS recording system in Australia and New Zealand. The purpose of this is to determine if and how the red plunger syringe was used in each case.
Interventions
The red plunger syringe is an Australian safety initiative introduced in the mid 1990s to reduce the number of drug errors involving muscle relaxants in anaesthesia. To our knowledge, its impact has not previously been formally evaluated.
We will be undertaking a survey of stratified, randomly selected anaesthetists and anaesthetic trainees in Australia and New Zealand to assess their opinions on how successful the red syringe has been as a drug safety initiative, determine how widely it has b
The red plunger syringe is an Australian safety initiative introduced in the mid 1990s to reduce the number of drug errors involving muscle relaxants in anaesthesia. To our knowledge, its impact has not previously been formally evaluated. We will be undertaking a survey of stratified, randomly selected anaesthetists and anaesthetic trainees in Australia and New Zealand to assess their opinions on how successful the red syringe has been as a drug safety initiative, determine how widely it has been adopted, and to establish if it can be modified to better meet anaesthetists' needs in providing safe care to the community. The survey will be distributed by email to randomly selected members of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) through the ANZCA Clinical Trials Network (CTN). The breakdown of survey participants will be stratified to include enough fellows and trainees from both Australia and New Zealand, as well as International Medical Graduate Specialists (IMGS), to make meaningful comparisons between groups. Participants will have an option to complete the survey online, or to print the survey, hand-write the answers and return it via reply-paid post. Participants who have not completed the survey within 28 days, and have not specified that they do not wish to participate, will be sent a reminder email by ANZCA. Responses will be collected up to two months after the first invitation was sent and will be collated using Qualtrics software. We intend to also distribute the survey to a random sample of GP (General Practitioner) Anaesthetists and trainees in Australia. The details of distribution for this group have not yet been finalised. In the interest of maintaining the participant privacy, the email addresses of participants will be known to the ANZCA CTN, but not to the investigators. We will also perform a retrospective analysis of all drug errors involving muscle relaxants that have ever been reported to the WebAIRS (web-based anaesthetic incident recording system) in Australia and New Zealand. The purpose of this is to determine if and how the red plunger syringe was used in each case. Access to this data is being supported by the Australian and New Zealand Tripartite Anaesthetic Data Committee (ANZTADC).
Sponsors
Dr Dash Newington
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Participants must hold a primary medical degree and be fellows or trainees of ANZCA. We also seek to include IMGS who have qualified as anaesthetists overseas and undertaking a program of study or clinical practice in Australia or New Zealand to obtain ANZCA Fellowship. We also intend to survey GP anaesthetists and trainees undergoing anaesthesia training through the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and/or the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine.
Exclusion criteria
We seek to capture the experiences of anaesthetists and trainees across Australia and New Zealand who are likely to use muscle relaxants on a regular basis. We will therefore exclude ANZCA fellows and trainees currently working entirely in countries other than Australia and New Zealand (to whom the red plunger syringe will not be available), as well as fellows and trainees not in current practice. Fellows of the Faculty of Pain Medicine of ANZCA who do not work in anaesthesia (to which the majority of questions will not be applicable) will also be excluded.
Outcome results
None listed