A 68-year-old man with a history of end-stage renal disease on hemodialysis is admitted to the hospital with severe community-acquired pneumonia. The admitting physician decides to prescribe intravenous cefepime. Recognizing the need for renal dose adjustment, the physician selects the standard pneumonia order set in the computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system. The system auto-populates a standard dose of 2 g every 8 hours. The physician attempts to modify this but inadvertently leaves the standard dose in the primary dose field, instead typing 'Renal dose: 1 g every 24 hours' in a free-text comment section.
The medication order is sent to the pharmacy. The electronic health record (EHR) interface is configured such that free-text comments are hidden unless the pharmacist manually clicks an 'expand details' tab. Under significant workload pressure, the pharmacist verifies the standard dose without expanding the tab. The medication is delivered to the floor, and the bedside nurse administers the standard dose without questioning its appropriateness for a dialysis patient. Over the next 48 hours, the patient develops profound encephalopathy and myoclonus attributed to cefepime toxicity. A root cause analysis is initiated.
Which of the following factors in this cascade represent latent errors (system-level vulnerabilities)? (Select all that apply.)
- AThe physician entering the modified dosage instructions into the free-text comment section rather than the designated dose field
- The electronic health record interface design that obscures provider comments from the pharmacist's default verification screenCevap
- The computerized physician order entry system lacking an automated renal-based dosing algorithm for high-risk antibioticsCevap
- DThe clinical pharmacist verifying the medication order without expanding the order details tab to review potential provider notes
- EThe bedside nurse administering the standard antibiotic dose without recognizing the contraindication for a patient on hemodialysis