Episode 330: Stay Up to Date on Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs
Release Date: 09/20/2024
Episode 437: Precision Oncology: What We’ve Learned and What’s Ahead
The ONS Podcast
“Biomarker testing isn’t just about generating more information. It’s about answering very practical questions for our patients. Can we identify disease earlier? Can we understand whether treatment is working? Are we able to identify why a cancer has become resistant? Ultimately, I think that’s where precision oncology becomes very meaningful. It’s not about the molecular report sitting in the chart. It’s about taking that information and using it to make the best possible decision for our individual patients,” ONS member Erica Bello Rodriguez, MSN, AGNP, NP-C, AOCNP®, oncology...
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Episode 436: Oncologic Emergencies 101: Hypersensitivity Reactions
The ONS Podcast
“The most important thing related to hypersensitivity reactions is that there is often a potential for rapid progression, and that’s what makes these reactions an oncologic emergency. The patients may have symptoms that are mild, and that quickly can progress to respiratory compromise, hypertension, cardiovascular issues, or anaphylaxis. Early recognition is so important, so we don’t want to wait for our patient to become hypotensive or significantly hypoxic before we identify that they’re having a serious reaction,” ONS member Christina Matousek, DNP, RN, OCN®, patient education...
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Episode 435: An Overview of Hodgkin Lymphoma for Oncology Nurses
The ONS Podcast
“The accumulation of these malignant and reactive cells, that’s what causes the lymph nodes to get big. That’s why they grow. And that’s why the classic presentation is persistent, painless, enlarged lymph nodes. So when we think of the pathophysiology of Hodgkin lymphoma, there are really two processes contributing to the presentation: One is the physical effects of enlarging lymph nodes or the involved organs. The second is the systemic inflammatory response generated by it and its surrounding immune environment,” ONS member Victoria Krogg, DNP, APRN-CNP, AOCNP®, nurse...
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Episode 434: Oncology–Psychiatric RN Collaboration to Support Psychosocial Health
The ONS Podcast
“Nurses are the front line. Oncology nurses see their patients almost all day. If you’re noticing that anxiety is causing significant distress or anxiety is disrupting a patient’s ability to concentrate during medical conversations or decision-making—anytime you’re seeing significant distress or disruption to functioning, that’s a pretty good indicator that referral to a psychiatric nurse and psychiatric care could be very helpful for that patient,” Amber Altidor, DNP, APRN-FPA, PMHNP-BC, assistant professor at Rush University College of Nursing and psychiatric nurse practitioner...
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Episode 433: Cancer Treatments for Noncancer Indications: Chemotherapy/Immunotherapy
The ONS Podcast
“Unlike our cancer indications where we use these medications often to activate the immune system to target cancerous cells, in noncancer indications, the goal is really to either suppress an overactive immune or inflammatory cells or modulate the immune system. Immune modulation by use of chemotherapy and immunotherapy can help reduce abnormal inflammation, decrease autoantibody production, and also can alter T-cell and B-cell activity,” ONS member Kelsey Miller, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BC, OCN®, clinical nurse specialist in oncology and infusion therapy at Reading Hospital in West Reading, PA,...
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Episode 432: Long-Term Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Considerations for Oncology Nurses
The ONS Podcast
“It’s a chronic disease. It never goes away for some people, and so therefore it has these periods of remission where it’s really quiet and well controlled. Then there can be periods of flares where you’re actively engaged in treatment or it’s impacting other pieces. There’s this feeling patients have of, ‘When am I going to have that flare?’ You know, this anticipatory anxiety of, ‘When are things going to be done differently?’ or ‘When do I need to change?’” ONS member Caitlin Murphy, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, AOCNP®, chief nurse practitioner at Dana-Farber Cancer...
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Episode 431: Oncologic Emergencies 101: Urinary Obstruction
The ONS Podcast
“Think about all the important things our kidneys do for the body. Those things are compromised. If we have excess buildup of toxins and waste in the body, you’re having problems with fluid reabsorption. Then you have also problems with electrolytes not being balanced. Then in turn, you have ongoing shutdown of systems. So the cardiopulmonary system gets compromise. Your circulatory system then gets compromised. And then all the things in the body that depend upon ongoing circulatory flow are then causing major resets in the system that need to be addressed,” ONS member Brenda S....
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Episode 430: Leadership Unlocked: Is It Your Time to Serve?
The ONS Podcast
“If you are considering board service, I would say take the leap. Start with your local chapter. It will give you some valuable skills that will help prepare you when you are applying for your national level. And I always say, if you want to do it, just do it because what’s the worst that can happen? They can say no, but that doesn’t mean that you will never serve on a board. I always tell people delayed is not denied,” Cassandra Green, DNP, RN, OCN®, ONS member and past president of the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC) Board of Directors, told Evelyn Wempe, DNP,...
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Episode 429: Radiation Site-Specific Side Effects: CNS Cancers
The ONS Podcast
“They’re really worried that radiation is going to be painful. So they come in for that first day of treatment very anxious. With our patients with brain cancer, we’re using the masks on the table, and those masks are very tight and hold their heads very, very still. So they’ll be very worried about being claustrophobic. We may start out the first day or two with a little bit of [lorazepam]. And they’ll come to me and they’ll say, ‘This really hasn’t been as bad as I thought it was going to be,’” ONS member Catherine McCluskey, BSN, RN, OCN®, ROCN™, radiation oncology...
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Episode 428: Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Treatment Considerations for Oncology Nurses
The ONS Podcast
“Measurable residual disease is where I think the terminology fits best in that, it is intended to measure the amount of cancer cells that are present in the blood or bone marrow at the time the sample was collected. We can identify one cancer cell in a million. Where that can be really valuable is when we start to think about the duration of treatments and the response to some of our treatments,” ONS member Caitlin Murphy, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, AOCNP®, chief nurse practitioner at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA, told Lenise Taylor, MN, RN, AOCNS®, TCTCN™, oncology clinical...
info_outline“The reality is that we are responsible for creating a culture of safety together for everybody in the clinical area. We have to think not only about ourselves and our personal risk, but how exposure to these hazardous drugs persists in the work environment for everybody. And we have to be part of the solution for everybody, even if it’s not something that we’re personally really worried about being exposed to,” AnnMarie Walton, PhD, MPH, RN, OCN®, CHES, FAAN, associate professor at Duke University School of Nursing in Durham, NC, told Lenise Taylor, MN, RN, AOCNS®, BMTCN®, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, during a conversation about updates to the fourth edition of Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs, one of ONS’s book publications.
Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0
AnnMarie Walton serves in a compensated consultant role with Splashblocker LLC and as a compensated speaker for BD. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
Learning outcome: Learner will report an increase in knowledge related to safe handling of hazardous drugs.
Episode Notes
- The NCPD activity for this episode has expired, but you can still earn NCPD through many other Oncology Nursing Podcast episodes. Find a full list of opportunities.
- Oncology Nursing Podcast™ episodes:
- ONS Voice articles:
- ONS books:
- Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice (second edition)
- Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs (fourth edition)
- ONS courses:
- Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles:
- Environmental Risk Factors: The Role of Oncology Nurses in Assessing and Reducing the Risk for Exposure
- Oral Chemotherapy: A Home Safety Educational Framework for Healthcare Providers, Patients, and Caregivers
- Oral Chemotherapy: An Evidence-Based Practice Change for Safe Handling of Patient Waste
- Personal Protective Equipment Use and Surface Contamination With Antineoplastic Drugs: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Oncology Nursing Forum articles:
- ONS Learning Library: Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs
- Joint ONS and Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association position statement: Ensuring Healthcare Worker Safety When Handling Hazardous Drugs
- ONS Voice video: Hazardous Drug Surface Contamination—The Science Behind the Study
To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities.
To find resources for creating an Oncology Nursing Podcast™ Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library.
To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email [email protected].
Highlights From This Episode
“We know that this book is used in practice sites across the country and increasingly around the world, and we have the privilege of answering lots of questions of ONS’s members routinely. And we’ve also been part of writing guidance documents for ONS. And so, we utilized, as well, some of those questions that have come to us, and we know what people want to know more about. So we’ve made sure that we’ve developed a book that would be the most helpful in clinical practice settings.” TS 2:42
“We ensured that the book was in alignment with all of the most recent organizational position statements, standards, and recommendations. And there have been some big ones between the publication of the third and fourth book. So USP 800 is one that everyone knows about, and that became enforceable in November of 2023. … The ONS/HOPA [Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association] position statement, which was most recently updated in 2022, was also folded into this book. NIOSH [National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health] came out with two new guidance documents in 2023, and I had the opportunity to serve as a reviewer on one and a contributor to the other. Those two NIOSH guidelines have been folded into this book And then the ONS Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice, which MiKaela Olsen was a lead editor on and I was an author for, have also been folded into this text.” TS 7:01
“We’ve understood the NIOSH hierarchy of controls for years, and if we look at that hierarchy, it tells us that PPE is important but also the least effective when it comes to controlling exposure. And what’s slightly more effective is administrative controls, which are things like changes in our practices, more education, and training. And then even more powerful than administrative controls are engineering controls, and these are your closed-system transfer devices, for example, that are really important in minimizing exposure.” TS 10:31
“[Toilet pluming] is a place that I, for better or worse, spend a lot of time. And I have a colleague, Tom Connor from NIH [National Institutes of Health], who likes to joke when people ask him about his work. He says, ‘Oh, it’s in the toilet.’ And so I’m going to steal that from him and say a lot of my research is in the toilet, too.” TS 13:16
“I feel like people don’t know how contaminated toilets are and how contaminated floors are. And I’ve already told you my tip about leaving your work shoes outside. But I think if people were more aware that the toilets and the floors are often the most contaminated places on a unit, there would be more attention paid to people who are coming into contact with those surfaces and bear a lot of the exposure risk.” TS 22:51