Years ago, when I'd only been a nurse for a short time, I was working at a children's hospital. I discharged a child with instructions for the parents to give the infant over-the-counter (OTC) Tylenol (acetaminophen) for pain or fever. The doctor did specify a dose but the conversion on the bottle of the acetaminophen they purchased was not the same, so I got a phone call. After talking with them for an hour they still didn't understand how much of the medication they were supposed to give their baby. If they were as frustrated as I was they were likely ready to pull their hair right out of their heads
Now, a new study shows that most labels on OTC childrens medications are overly confusing for parents. "There is an unacceptable amount of inconsistency in labels and measuring devices of OTC liquid medications for children," said H. Shonna Yin, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at NYU School of Medicine who co-led the study.
This was indeed the hang up for the family I was working with, how do you explain to a person not previously versed in metric and English conversions to convert milligrams to milliliters to teaspoons or tablespoons?
I read about this study in Newswise, in which Ruth Parker, MD, professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, who co-led the study. is quoted as saying, "This is an issue of patient safety and needs urgent attention. Given how many products are affected, it seems unlikely that the voluntary guidelines alone, set by the FDA and industry will fix this problem. The current guidance does not contain a time line for compliance or specify consequences for non-compliance. Standards and regulatory oversight will likely be needed to ensure that all products contain label information and dosing device markings that match and are understandable and useful."
I sincerely hope that Dr. Parker is wrong and this problem is quickly addressed. In the meantime I have a step-by-step document designed to help parents accurately make these conversions with acetaminophen. For all other childrens medications, if you are confused by the dosing information on the box, I recommend talking to the grocery store pharmacist.
Stay Up To Date: Subscribe to my free newsletter
and follow me on Twitter or Facebook.
Have Questions? Find out answers to your specific questions on my forum and get support from others.
