Improving Patient Safety With Error Identification in Chemotherapy Orders by Verification Nurses

Abstract

Background The prevalence of medication errors associated with chemotherapy administration is not precisely known. Little evidence exists concerning the extent or nature of errors; however, some evidence demonstrates that errors are related to prescribing. This article demonstrates how the review of chemotherapy orders by a designated nurse known as a verification nurse (VN) at a National Cancer Institute–designated comprehensive cancer center helps to identify prescribing errors that may prevent chemotherapy administration mistakes and improve patient safety in outpatient infusion units. Objectives This article will describe the role of the VN and details of the verification process. Methods To identify benefits of the VN role, a retrospective review and analysis of chemotherapy near-miss events from 2009–2014 was performed. Findings A total of 4,282 events related to chemotherapy were entered into the Reporting to Improve Safety and Quality system. A majority of the events were categorized as near-miss events, or those that, because of chance, did not result in patient injury, and were identified at the point of prescribing.

Electronic ordering and the management of treatment interdependencies: a qualitative study of paediatric chemotherapy

“…This is also supported by recent research suggesting that chemotherapy errors with CPOE may be prevented with knowledge of a patient's chemotherapy history and in-depth knowledge of protocols (41). Nurses' and/or pharmacists' routine checks of CPOE orders against protocols (22,24) -also reported in the unit we studied -are one way to address CPOE limitations by automatically monitoring variations to protocols, and may also be facilitated by the availability of electronic roadmap displays.…”

“…The literature suggests that design of CPOE for chemotherapy is 'confronted with problems' (21) and that CPOE alone is not su cient to eliminate chemotherapy errors. Other safety strategies generally co-exist, including error surveillance systems (22,23), checking of patient regimens against standard protocols (22,24), and interventions to improve situational awareness (12,22). The literature remains unclear on how CPOE relates to such strategies, especially with regard to management of interdependencies.…”

Patient Safety in the Administration of Antineoplastic Chemotherapy and of Immunotherapics for Oncological Treatment: Scoping Review

“…Regarding the journals, two had published seven (14.9%) articles in the Clin J Oncol Nurs [6][7]18,[27][28][34][35] (impact factor 0.881, Journal Citation Reports 2017-2018), six (12.8%) studies in the Oncol Nurs Forum 9,17,20,22,26,52 (impact factor 1.785, Journal Citation Reports 2017-2018), five (10.6%) in the J Oncol Pract 4,17,38,40,45 (impact factor 2.509, Journal Citation Reports 2017-2018) and in the Eur J Oncol Nurs 23,44,46,48,51 (impact factor 1.812, Journal Citation Reports 2017-2018), three (6.4%) publications in the J Pediatr Oncol Nurs 5,30,32 (impact factor 1.294, Journal Citation Reports 2017-2018), two (4.3%) in the Qual Saf Health Care 25,29 (according to the latest data, not indexed in the Journal Citation Reports). The other studies were published in different health journals.…”

Pengetahuan Perawat Mengenai Kemoterapi dan Risiko Kecelakaan Kerja dalam Pelayanan Proses Kemoterapi di RSUP DR. Hasan Sadikin Kota Bandung

“…Tujuan dalam penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui perbedaaan pengetahuan perawat yang belum dan sudah mendapat pelatihan tentang kemoterapi dan risiko kecelakaan kerja. 3,5,6,10,13,15,[16][17][18] Perangkat lunak statistik SPSS versi 23.0 digunakan untuk melakukan analisis statistik. Analisis data menggunakan tes hipotesis Chisquare dan uji korelasi menggunakan scatter plot.…”

“…Perawat onkologi adalah perawat yang telah menerima pelatihan dan sertifikasi mengenai kemoterapi dan prosesnya. [13][14][15] Namun, dalam penelitian ini, masih terdapat perawat onkologi yang menyatakan bahwa mereka belum pernah mendapatkan pelatihan apapun mengenai kemoterapi. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa terdapat kemungkinan lebih banyak perawat yang belum pernah menjalani pelatihan kemoterapi yang mampu menjawab dengan benar pada beberapa pernyataan, dibandingkan dengan perawat yang telah mendapatkan pelatihan.…”