The basics of the study was to expand on this research and explore whether additional potential human failures are yet to be addressed by practice standards. In 2014, our team published an observational study that described three types of previously unrecognized and potentially catastrophic latent chemotherapy preparation errors in Canadian oncology pharmacies that would otherwise be undetectable.
Human factors specialists observed and interviewed pharmacy managers, oncology pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy assistants as they carried out their work. Emphasis was on latent errors (potential human failures) that could lead to outcomes such as wrong drug, dose, or diluent. Given the relatively short observational period, no active failures or actual errors were observed. However, 11 latent errors in chemotherapy compounding were identified. In terms of severity, all 11 errors create the potential for a patient to receive the wrong drug or dose, which in the context of cancer care, could lead to death or permanent loss of function. At each site for approximately 12 hours over a period of 2 to 3 days, human factors specialists observed and interviewed pharmacy managers, oncology pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy assistants as they carried out their work.
In conclusion, we can say that there is a significant degree of risk for error in manual mixing practice. These latent errors may exist in other regions where manual compounding of IV chemotherapy takes place.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5952328/
