Howdy, fellow ONS members!
I am seeking information regarding use of cytotoxic or hazardous drug (HD) precautions in the ambulatory setting. I am the charge RN of a supportive care oncology clinic at UCHealth in Aurora. I was inspired to initiate a project in my clinic after listening to episode 330 of the ONS podcast, "Stay Up to Date on Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs".
To provide context on the clinic setting - we are a 12 bay outpatient clinic devoted to symptom management for solid tumor patients. Patients are able to call our clinic, speak directly to an RN who will complete triage, and hopefully be seen same day. Our clinic has grown exponentially over the past five years and can be a very fast paced environment for our clinicians. We are often handling body fluids and collecting specimens to send to lab, including urine, stool, nasal swabs, blood, pleural fluid, and ascitic fluid. We have two shared bathrooms utilized by patients, staff, and visitors. We do not currently place patients in the outpatient setting on cytotoxic drug precautions.
My project involves chart review to determine which drugs are most often administered within 48 hours of clinic appointment, surveying staff knowledge and attitudes regarding the risks associated with exposure to body fluids contaminated with hazardous drugs, wipe testing the bathrooms/patient bays/nurse station for HD contamination, creating a standard of practice for the outpatient setting and providing staff with education, and then re-surveying staff after implementation of standard of practice and education.
I am interested if there are facilities currently utilizing cytotoxic drug precautions in the ambulatory space. If so, I would greatly appreciate any information, feedback, or advice regarding this topic and my project.
Thank you all so much for your time and expertise, I am excited to hear of other member's experience!
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ZoeLefkimiotis
Charge RN
UCHealth Cancer Care - Anschutz Medical Campus - University of Colorado Cancer Center
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