Safety Management Status among Nurses Handling Anticancer Drugs: Nurse Awareness and Performance Following Safety Regulations.
This study identified the actual conditions for safe anticancer drug management among nurses and the relationship between level of awareness and performance of anticancer drug safety regulations in terms of preparation, administration, and disposal. The respondents were 236 nurses working with chemotherapy in wards and outpatient clinics in five hospitals in and near Seoul. Safety regulations provided for the anticancer drug the Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA, 1999), as modified for an earlier study, were used. The results showed that the level of awareness and performance on the anticancer drug safety regulations indicate their preparation (3.38±0.55, 2.38±0.98), administration (3.52±0.46, 3.17±0.70), general handling and disposal (3.33±0.54, 2.42±0.90) on a scale 0 to 5. Also, there were significant differences in job positions, work experience, type of preparation, and continuing education and a positive relationship between the level of awareness and nursing performance. Thus, nurses should receive continuing education on the handling of anticancer drugs to improve the level of performance following safety regulations.
Department of Nursing, Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital, Korea E-mail : kwon1314@hallym.ac.kr.
Kyeong Weon
KW
Jeong
Bo-Young
BY
Lee
Myung Soon
MS
Kwon
Ji-Hye
JH
Jang
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001364:Awareness; D004782:Environmental Health; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D017744:Medical Waste Disposal; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009859:Oncology Nursing / Q000193:education; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011481:Protective Clothing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017751:Safety Management
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D017744:Medical Waste Disposal