Would love some feedback on medical packaging

[aleatoria]

Hi, I am a student doing a packaging project on hospital use drugs and equipment. I would love an inside look at the pros and cons of current packaging.

For example, what is the first and second things you look for on a label? For vials is it the drug name then the strength? I am working with hierarchy to make for a faster and more efficient read. What about needles and the boxes they come in? What is the most important information on there and would you like to see a different structure than a cardboard box or is that effective enough?

I would also love to hear about any other difficult reads or inefficient systems I could look into. Obviously I don't want to change something that is working though, so that is why I am asking here so I don't make too many assumptions.

I hope this is posted in the right place, and sorry if I was mistaken.

Thank you for your time!

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

packaging: Name, dose and scan bar, as we scan meds. It would be nice not to do micro-surgery opening some packages. God help you, if you don't have scissors for some of them

Needles: Looking on the package is fine enough. I look for needle gauge and then syringe size. Easy to open, so no problem.

There are times that finding the size or dose is frustrating. You have to scan through manufacturer name, etc..for the size and or length of something.

Maybe put the pertinent stuff in big bold letters near the top and the mindless crap toward the bottom. That would be nice.

[nurse.sandi]

I always looked for the name of the drug, dosage, and amt. in the vial. As far as packaging goes on needles, sometimes it is hard to open them after you have used your fingers for twelve hours. With the charting on the computer, the fingers are taking a beating. We need to be able to open packages we use frequently easier. Sounds like an interesting project. Good luck.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

Glass vials cut my fingers, and require a filter needle.

Bizarre strength labeling like 50mg/5ml. Just tell me how much is in 1ml, for every package, and I can figure out how much I need.

Color coordination (different colored labels and pills, for different types of drugs) between companies would be amazing, but way too much to ask for. Then if my triage patient said he's on 2white pills and a blue pill it would mean something. Also using the same font and label format would help, then the warnings would stand out for everyone. Right now it's information overload.

Pills in foil that spring from the package like bouncing balls! Good entertainment, but darn annoying. White pills on white linen are hard to see, a little color in the printing? Speaking of the printing on the pill, why don't they write the pill name and/or strength instead of the number codes they have now? (because this is health care and that would make sense.)

The FDA needs to get on this, drug companies are running around willy nilly, and there needs to be some consistency.