Safety guidelines that govern how nurses administer chemotherapy drugs have been issued by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health but are not yet mandatory. Medical staffing professionals working in outpatient chemotherapy infusion centers may wish to increase safety by practicing the non-mandatory safety measures suggested by the institute.
A survey of 1,339 oncology nurses found that 17 percent of nurses who worked in outpatient centers reported being exposed (skin or eyes) to the toxic drugs they were administering to patients, according to the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“We have minimized needle stick incidents so that they are rare events that elicit a robust response from administrators,” lead study author Christopher Friese, R.N., Ph.D., assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Nursing, told Healthcare Traveler. “Nurses go immediately for evaluation and prophylactic treatment. But we don’t have that with chemotherapy exposure.”
Because there is no specific virus to counteract with chemotherapy exposure, unlike many other incidents, it is more difficult to know how to deal with exposure and the potential health effects. Unintentional chemotherapy exposure can affect the nervous system, the reproductive system, the immune system and increase the risk of being diagnosed with cancer in the future. That is why it is important for a nurse to adhere to strict safety guidelines like wearing protective gear, such as gloves and goggles.
A travel nurse in the field of oncology may wish to look at institutions where there are more staff and resources. These practices reported significantly lower instances of exposure.
“This research shows that paying attention to the workload, the health of an organization and the quality of working conditions pays off,” Friese told Healthcare Traveler. “It’s not just about job satisfaction. It’s likely to lower the risk of these occupational hazards.”
The personal safety of a nurse is very important to the health of the nurse and the medical institution in question. Travel nurses should look at a variety of factors with their staffing agency managers to determine the facility that would be the best fit.