Many reported errors have resulted when practitioners felt significant pressure to place productivity above patient safety, especially when faced with inadequate staffing. Make safety an explicit goal that should not be sacrificed in favor of productivity. Allow front-line practitioners to eliminate some production work, not safety work, and identify safety practices to assure critical defenses remain intact. Establish realistic contingency plans for unexpected staff absences. Severe reactions, including fatalities, have occurred during and immediately after intravenous injection of phytonadione, even when the medication is diluted and rapid infusion is avoided.
Oral administration is the safest route for phytonadione.
Many similarities exist between medication error reduction and infection control. Both require targeting the multiple system-based causes.