Pump Up Your Knowledge: IV Smart Pumps and the Vital Role of the Pharmacist

Patient Safety CE Offered

Large-volume intravenous smart pumps (IVSPs) are a standard of care in most healthcare systems for the delivery of life-saving medications and fluids. IVSPs allow for a greater amount of control, accuracy, and precision with medication delivery and can provide clinical decision support for programmed doses to help recognize errors prior to the start of the infusion. This has significantly improved the safety of intravenous medication administration and improved workflow and workloads. Technology has improved the safety of infusion administration; however many adverse events still occur. This can be due to high variability in infusion practices amongst healthcare providers, healthcare organizations not using the IVSP functionality to its full potential, and human errors such as errors in IVSP programming. Pharmacists are often called upon to lead IVSP efforts. This educational activity will discuss the role of the pharmacist with IVSPs including best practices, preventing and responding to errors, understanding the nuances between different pumps, responding to alerts and alarms, and opportunities to improve workflow, efficiency, and patient safety.

Monday, Dec. 8
11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. PT (2:30 - 4 p.m. ET)

Symposium Location: Islander Ballroom I, Lower Level, Mandalay Bay North Convention Center

Come early! Seating is limited and provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
Lunch is provided for this activity.

Can't make it to Las Vegas? Tune into the Free Live Webinar Broadcast.
Registration is required for the webinar.

Webinar Registration

Speakers

Daniel D. Degnan, PharmD, MS, CPPS, FASHP Activity Chair
Clinical Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Academic Success Coach
Purdue University College of Pharmacy
West Lafayette, Indiana

Dan Degnan is Clinical Associate Professor of Pharmacy and Academic Success Coach at Purdue University College of Pharmacy. At Purdue, he teaches professional pharmacy students in the areas of patient safety and informatics, health policy, and leadership. Dr. Degnan is an associate faculty member at the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering at Purdue where he contributes his expertise to researchers in the areas of medication safety technology, patient safety culture, pharmacy operations, and high reliability healthcare.

Stephen F. Eckel, PharmD, MHA
Associate Professor, Associate Dean
UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Stephen F. Eckel is Associate Dean for Global Engagement at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He is also an associate professor in the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education (PACE). In addition, he is director of the two-year Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences with a specialization in health-system pharmacy administration. This degree is hosted at 23 sites across 12 states. At UNC Medical Center, he is residency program director of the 2-year program in health-system pharmacy administration. He has worked with almost 250 residents over the years.

As an innovator and entrepreneur Dr. Eckel co-founded ChemoGLO, LLC with Bill Zamboni, PharmD, PhD. He also founded Nuvai Medical Technologies Inc, which is developing the Precynge medical device and Aseptique, a machine learning evaluation of aseptic technique. He is a passionate supporter of the role of the pharmacist and the use of technology in patient care. He conducts and publishes his research and is frequently asked to speak on these issues.

Dr. Eckel has been very active in the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists (NCAP), serving in the past as president. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. In 2023, NCAP named him the Health-System Pharmacist of the Year.

Karen K. Giuliano, PhD, RN, MBA, FAAN
Professor – UMass Amherst
Nurse Scientist – Baystate Health
Amherst, Massachusetts

Karen K. Giuliano is Professor and Co-Director of the Elaine Marieb Center for Nursing and Engineering Innovation at UMass Amherst in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her research focuses on two key areas: preventing non-ventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia (NVHAP) and improving the safety and usability of intravenous smart infusion pumps. Dr. Giuliano is a nurse scientist and innovator with over 25 years of experience spanning critical care nursing, medical product development, and patient-centered outcomes research. Her work integrates clinical expertise with human-centered design and interdisciplinary collaboration to advance safer, more effective, and compassionate care.

Target Audience

This activity was planned to meet the educational needs of front-line clinical pharmacists, pharmacists in leadership positions including pharmacy executives, managers, and supervisors, and those in product procurement roles who can identify specific opportunities for smart infusion pumps.

Learning Objectives

Identify differences between IVSPs that impact safety, efficacy, and usability of these devices.
Apply guidelines and best practices for implementation and use of IVSPs to ensure the utilization of the technology to its full potential.
Recognize different IVSP alarms, methods to respond to the alarms, and opportunities for quality and safety improvement.

Agenda

11:30 a.m. – Welcome and Introductions
Daniel D. Degnan
11:35 a.m. – An Overview of Pumps and Pump Safety
Karen K. Giuliano
12:05 p.m. – Guidelines and Smart Infusion Pump Optimization
Daniel D. Degnan
12:25 p.m. – Alerts and Alarms – What Does the Data Show?
Stephen F. Eckel
12:50 p.m. – Faculty Discussion, Questions and Answers
All Faculty

Accredited for CPE

ACPE #: 0204-0000-25-421-L05-P
CE Credit: 1.5 contact hours (0.15 CEUs)
Activity Type: Application-based
Activity Fee: No charge

To Claim CE for the webinar, enter the CE code announced during the activity and complete the evaluation.