Implementation of safeguards to improve patient safety in chemotherapy.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguards introduced in the process of using cytostatic agents for increasing the safety of oncology patients.

Methods: Prospective hospital study conducted in two stages, before and after the implementation of safeguards: staff training, standardized procedures, computerized prescription, pharmaceutical validation, implementation of bar codes, and a new manual on drug interactions. Medication errors (MEs) were actively recorded during the process of administering chemotherapy in the Medical Oncology Department.

[Analysis of the effectiveness of an antiemetic protocol used in an oncology division].

Objective: To analyse the effectiveness of an antiemetic protocol in patients receiving chemotherapy treatment.

Method: Prospective study in patients with solid tumours receiving chemotherapy in an oncology day hospital between January 2006 and 2007. We conducted a literature review and an evaluation of the recommendations of different clinical practice guidelines.

[Analysis criteria's influence on incidence and factors associated tuberculin conversion in health care workers].

Background: To know from two different criteria, CDC's and Spanish national consensus (NC), the tuberculin conversion rate and the factors associated to this phenomenon.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective cohort study was designed over 475 health care workers. Risk factors were identified by using a Cox's proportional hazards model for each criteria.