I’ve been thinking about Florence, pledges, harm, and help.

In 1893, nursing pioneer, Lystra Gretter, passed on the light from “The Lady of the Lamp” in penning the Florence Nightingale Nurse’s Pledge. Reminiscent of the Hippocratic Oath, the pledge included a commitment: “I shall not knowingly administer any harmful drug.”

While nursing is so much more than administering medications, it is certainly not less. There isn’t an RN who knowingly administers a drug that causes harm.  

And yet, no matter how committed and conscientious they may be, nurses are dependent on physicians ordering safe drugs, pharmacists reviewing and approving physicians’ orders, and technicians preparing the drugs in compliance with said orders.

Most IV errors are made during the review and preparation processes, which are not detectable by nurses when they arrive at the point of infusion. Nurses must trust that the IVs they receive and push into their patients have been accurately prepared—containing the right concentrations and volumes of the right ingredients.

More than a few nurses have administered harmful drugs, not because of their negligence but because of undetected errors that were made upstream.

The THRIV Coalition honors nurses who faithfully fulfill their high and holy calling. We also remain committed to helping men and women of the lamp fulfill the no-harm oath by promoting the use of IV Workflow Management Systems in the pharmacies that serve them. We are fully bent on helping pharmacists and technicians get IVs right by pressing for the universal adoption and faithful utilization of compounding technologies proven to protect patients from being harmed and caregivers from unwittingly doing harm.

To this end, we hope you will join the THRIV Coalition and sign on as Champion for IV accuracy. All are welcome. Pharmacists. Technicians. Nurses. Physicians, Consumers. Consultants. Technology developers—whatever you do. All it will cost is the few minutes it takes to add your name here.

If Florence or Lystra were still around, we’d invite them to join us in advocating for IV Accuracy. I’d bet you all the lamp oil consumed in the 19th century that they’d accept. Meanwhile, I hope you will extend these ladies’ legacy. Sign on. Add fuel to their flame.

Together for IV accuracy!