Survey of the State of Implementation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology/Oncology Nursing Society Safety Standards for Chemotherapy Administration in India

Abstract

This survey indicates that there is an urgent need to formulate national-level guidelines for safe chemotherapy administration.

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.…”

“…The other studies were published in different health journals. 3,[13][14][15][16]19,21,[24][25]31,33,43,[36][37]39,42,47,[49][50] The safety of cancer drug administration in adults, children and young people in hospitals, [3][4][6][7][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]27,33,[35][36][40][41]44,[47][48][49][50]52 outpatient clinics, [3][4][5][16][17][18][19...…”

“…medications, hydration, growth factors, and hypersensitivity medications); signature and stamp of the responsible professional; validation of the prescription by qualified and skilled nurses and pharmacists to work in the cancer area (double check with increment of a checklist of the items included in the prescriptions); prescription properly documented in patient's record (verbal orders are not allowed except to maintain or discontinue drug administration). [4][5][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]24,26,32,[40][41][42]44,46,48,50,52 Intrathecal CTX prescriptions should be performed separately from drugs to be administered by other routes; labeled with warning labels and dispensed at the exact time of patient administration; followed in respect of institutional policies and standards.…”

“…4,13 In the CTX administration phase, the following is recommended double-check by nurses for patient identification; check if the patient is wearing the identification bracelet with at least two identifiers; check for allergies to the drugs to be administered; identify drug name, dose, volume, route of administration, start and end date; check the appearance of the drug; put the signature and stamp on the prescription of all professionals (doctor, nurse and pharmacist); analyze if the CTX scheme was observed (adequate time since last cycle); identify treatment-related toxicity (if applicable); confirm if there are supportive medications; recalculate CTX doses; compare diluted drug labels with prescription and antineoplastic regimen; check for specific prescribed sequence; guide the patient verbally and deliver in writing (manual, folder); monitor the patient before, during and after drug administration; perform monitoring after CTX administration, including adherence, toxicity and complications. [4][5][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]24,26,32,[40][41][42]44,46,48,50 Studies have shown that the implementation of evidence-based care protocols improves care, organizes health services with the establishment of flows, and that they are imperative to improve the quality of care and patient safety. 26,32,50…”

“…34,50 There are recommendations to minimize the likelihood of an incident occurring and to increase patient safety, such as the use of standardized, preferably electronic, forms prior to each parenteral CTX administration. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21]24,26,32,[40][41][42]44,46,48,50 The literature supported the use of independent double checking as a means of improving safety. 4,16,26,36 The standards emphasized the importance of conducting a comprehensive review of the medication request, instead of simply comparing the product to the prescription; this has been determined as a valuable method for detecting prescription errors.…”