ONS Connect - August 2008 - (Page 14)

Home Precautions After Chemotherapy For 48 hours after patients receive chemotherapy, • Toilets should be flushed twice each time they are used. If possible, patients should use a separate toilet from others in the home and wash their hands with soap and water after using the toilet. • Caregivers must wear gloves when handling patients’ blood, urine, stool, or emesis. They should dispose of the gloves after each use and wash their hands. • After using any devices for bodily waste, patients should thoroughly wash their hands and the devices with soap and water. Dry the devices with paper towels, and discard the towels. • Any sheets or clothes soiled with bodily fluids should be machine washed twice in hot water with regular laundry detergent. Do not hand wash. If they cannot be washed right away, place them in a sealed plastic bag. • Absorbable undergarments should be placed in sealed plastic bags for disposal. • If caregivers accidentally come in contact with bodily fluids, they should wash the area of exposure several times with soapy water and inform their doctors on their next visit. A single exposure may not do much harm, but caregivers should take extra precautions to avoid repeated exposure. Cleveland Clinic. (2008). Chemotherapy precautions during and after treatment. Retrieved June 6, 2008, from http://www .clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/ docs/4300/4350.asp?index=13586 Vioral’s system ensures that medical surveillence policies are in place for all staff that handle hazardous drugs. “Maintaining guidelines and a safe environment across our large institution is the biggest challenge,” says Vioral. this year the hospital also is offering nurses the opportunity to attend national conferences; seven nurses from Chester County Hospital attended the 2008 ONS Congress in Philadelphia, PA. Casale’s chief concerns are related to hiring and training staff. “My greatest challenges have been filling a newly created position and working with nurses who have never heard of ONS or oncology certification,” Casale says. She also has just completed an update to the safe-handling guidelines in her facility and is now working to make sure all workers who handle chemotherapy adopt all of the new changes. National recommendations for the safe preparation and administration of chemotherapy are updated regularly, but ONS can help you stay abreast of the changes. For more information on the ONS Chemotherapy and Biotherapy Course and the ONS chemotherapy guidelines, see the sidebar on p. 12. ✱ Brown, K.A., Esper, P., Kelleher, L.O., O’Neill, J.E.B., Polovich, M., & White, J.M. (Eds.). (2005). Chemotherapy and biotherapy guidelines and recommendations for practice (2nd ed.). Pittsburgh, PA: Oncology Nursing Society. Contributing Editor Hanan Saca-Hazboun, RN, MSN, is a lecturer in the Faculty of Nursing and Health Science at Bethlehem University in West Bank, Palestinian Authority. 14 ONS CONNECT August 2008 http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/4300/4350.asp?index=13586 http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/4300/4350.asp?index=13586

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ONS Connect - August 2008

ONS Connect - August 2008 Contents Editor's Note Just In Safe Handling of Chemotherapy A Year in the Life—Month Eight Put Evidence Into Practice to Manage Dyspnea Web Connect Capitol Connection Notice Nursing Now Caregiver Care KRAS Status Predicts Response to Cetuximab for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Calendar of Events Working for You Staying on Top

ONS Connect - August 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.