Research in Healthcare
Supporting Accuracy in Healthcare
Visual timers can help healthcare professionals keep track of timing during IV medication administration.
Research conducted in a simulated healthcare setting found that using a visual timer was linked to a significant reduction in the number of nurses making IV push errors.
Clinically Proven
Research by Tara McCurdie, Varuna Prakash, and Patricia Trbovich at Healthcare Human Factors, Techna Institute, and University Health Network showed that using a visual timer can significantly decrease errors during IV push administration.
Before administering an IV push, the nurse sets the visual timer according to the required delivery time, for example, 10 minutes. As time passes, the coloured section gradually disappears until the timer reaches zero. With no audible alarm to interrupt the workflow, the timer offers a simple and intuitive way to monitor medication delivery time, including when the nurse needs to attend to another task.
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Full Study
The focus groups also highlighted an important aspect of IV push administration: interruptions from patients cannot always be avoided. This insight helped shape the intervention and contributed to better error rates in the intervention group. Rather than attempting to prevent interruptions, the visual timer was designed to help nurses maintain accurate timing and remain resilient when expected interruptions occur.