Current practice of prescription and administration of oxygen therapy: An observational study at a single teaching hospital

OBJECTIVES: Oxygen therapy, commonly used clinically, should be administered according to the physician's prescription; however, accumulating evidence signals some degree of inaccuracy in this perspective. This study aimed to evaluate the current practice of prescription and administration of oxygen therapy. METHODS: This observational study was conducted at a teaching hospital in the Eastern province of KSA. All inpatients in general wards who were on supplemental oxygen (O(2)) were included. Patient's demographic data and physician's prescription items were collected from patient medical charts and the respiratory care (RC) department charts. Oxygen administration to inpatients was monitored and matched with oxygen prescriptions recorded on the medical and RC charts. RESULTS: Among 152 inpatients, 21 were on supplemental O(2). Of these, 20 had written prescriptions in their medical charts, but only 18 had information recorded in the RC charts. Of the 5 items required by hospital guidelines for oxygen prescription, 30% of patients had 3 items; whereas 70% of patients had only 2 items. Mode of oxygen delivery was recommended in all physicians' prescriptions, but flow rate and FiO(2) were ordered in only 30% of prescriptions. Among the 6 patients with a written record of target SpO(2) range, 2 had a value outside of the target range and 2 of 6 patients had a flow rate that differed from the prescribed rate. CONCLUSION: Current practice for oxygen therapy prescription and administration was suboptimal. Nation-wide investigations and remediations of oxygen therapy practice is needed to improve patient care.