Moving medicine forward

Medications are constantly changing and improving. And at Children’s Minnesota, we’re helping to drive that change.

Children’s pharmacy team isn’t just staying up-to-date on the latest research and clinical trials — we’re helping create them.

For instance, our pharmacy team has a hand in all of Children’s clinical trials involving medications. Some notable highlights include:

• A study to determine if using the drug Omegaven for parenteral nutrition (a solution put right into the bloodstream) caused liver damage in infants
• A trial to find how many children treated with beta-lactam antibiotics have neutropenia (low white blood cells)
• A trial to find the correct initial dose of Vancomycin (an antibiotic) for children ages 6 months to 14 years
• Development of a pharmacist-run total parenteral nutrition (TPN) service specifically for children

Safety first

We also use technology to make medications safer and prevent medication errors. For example, we now use bar code technology in our pharmacies and at the bedside to ensure our patients are getting the right medication, at the right dose, at the right time. Before a patient gets any medication, the nurse will scan a barcode for the patient and the medication to make sure it’s the correct match.

Eureka moments

At Children’s, we focus on research and innovations that make a difference at the bedside. From improving day-to-day quality of life for children and teens to developing new pain management approaches, our research is completely kid-and family-focused.

Here’s a recent sampling:

• “Hyperglycemia of Critical Illness and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.” In: Pharmacotherapy Self-Assessment Program, 7th ed. Chapter: Pediatrics. 2010.
• “Pediatric pharmacotherapy.” In: Pharmacotherapy Self-Assessment Program. Chapter: Pediatrics. 2003.
• “Recommendations for Meeting the Pediatric Patient’s Need for a Clinical Pharmacist: a Joint Opinion of the Pediatrics Practice and Research Network of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy and the Pediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group.” Pharmacotherapy. February 2013.
• “Otoacoustic Emission Screen Results in Critically Ill Neonates Who Received Gentamicin in the First Week of Life.” Pharmacotherapy. July 2011.
• “Outcome of a Simplified, Weight-Based, Extended Interval, Gentamicin Dosing Protocol in Critically Ill Neonates.” Pharmacotherapy. November 2009.
• “Effects of Light Exposure on Total Parenteral Nutrition and its Implications in the Neonatal Population.” J Pediatric Pharmacol Ther. July-September 2009.