Role of Educated Pharmacists in Detection and Reducing of Medication Errors at the Outpatient Chemotherapy Department of Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, a Teaching Hospital

Introduction Chemotherapy medication errors cause a potentially serious risk of patient harm, and occur at all stages of the medication use process (1). In an effort to prevent these errors, we are seeking to identify the different types of errors and their sources, while at the same time investigating the role of educated pharmacists and other medical personnel play in their reduction. Methods Every patients at admission time in the outpatient chemotherapy department were checked for chemotherapy regimen, dosing, intervals, lab data, chemotherapy preparation and other parameters by pharmacists. In any shift, 3 pharmacists were involved and supervised the admission and chemotherapy preparation. These pharmacists were educated and evaluated by pharmacotherapy department professors. All of the detected errors were documented in standard medication error forms. Collected data from September 2017 to June 2018 were analyzed in this study. Result and Discussion A total of 489 errors were reported (Total number of orders=19240, Rate of errors = 0.025). Most of them were inappropriately prescribed doses (n=181, 37.01%). The majority of errors occurred by specialists/subspecialists (n=216, 41.22%). Human errors and working at peak hours were the first and second most prevalent causes of errors. Most errors occurred at the prescription (n=319, 65.23%) stage. In 79.30% of cases, errors were identified before drug administration. Pharmacists intervened in 480 errors and the rate of acceptance by specialists was high (405 cases, 82%). In fact, in 82% of cases, pharmacist could have prevented the medication errors. Given that pharmacists have greater knowledge and awareness about various medications and their indications, preparation and route of administration, they can play a critical role in the detection and reduction of medication errors and the harm it caused. Conclusion The presence of educated-pharmacists at the chemotherapy departments can influence detection and prevention of medication errors, and improve caring quality

کلیدواژه ها:

Chemotherapy ، Medication error ، hospital pharmacy