Manual for dilution of injectable drugs evaluability assessment in a university hospital.

Abstract

The second stage of an Evaluability Assessment on HUPES Complex’s Manual for Dilution of Injectable Drugs is described. After obtaining and validating its Theoretical-Logical Model (MTL) in a previous stage, the current study aimed to preliminarily evaluate the operation of the manual in practice, identifying areas for improvement, obtaining questions for future complete evaluations and issuing recommendations to the end of the process. This was a qualitative methodology study carried out between February and April 2020 at the HUPES Complex. Twenty-one stakeholders were included as two pharmacists as well who elaborated the dilution manual and 19 professional users of the document who serve adult and pediatric care units – Pharmacy, Medicine, Nursing (Nurses and Nursing Technicians). Semi-structured interviews were carried out, comparing the preliminary MTL with the professionals’ practical understanding of the manual. A categorization system was built based on the corpus of interviews, with data management using Excel® software (Microsoft Office 2007 Package). Most participants were female professionals, working at the HUPES Complex for up to five years. It was found that the manual is the first source of consultation for most users and most know how to access it; everyone finds it useful; most previously had difficulties in using it and the main need for improvement identified was the need for frequent training. Evaluation questions are presented. At the end, better support and greater dissemination of the dilution manual in institutional policies/standards was recommended and, although apparently consolidated, training on the dilution manual is fundamental.