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Published on: November 9, 2016
Medical Surveillance Programs for Workers Exposed to Hazardous Medications: A Survey of Current Practices in Health
Laura E Breeher1, Robin G Molella, Andrew I Vaughn
1Division of Preventive, Occupational and Aerospace Medicine (Drs Breeher, Molella, Vaughn, Swift, and Newcomb); Department of Nursing (Ms Brueggen), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; Department of Health Sciences Research, Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for Science of Health Care Delivery, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida (Dr Spaulding); and Division of Occupational Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Dr Green-McKenzie).
Objective:
To assess current medical surveillance monitoring practices for health care workers who prepare, handle, or administer hazardous medications.
Methods:
A cross-sectional survey was distributed to members of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
Results:
Forty-six of the 91 survey respondents indicated that their institution had a hazardous medication surveillance program. We identified the most frequent laboratory (complete blood count) and physical (skin) examination components. A health history was frequently used. Statistical analysis did not suggest an association between institutions with greater resources and presence of a surveillance program.
Conclusions:
A consensus standard for medical monitoring was not reported by the respondents. We recommend using a standardized surveillance questionnaire and applying uniform laboratory testing across institutions, in addition to establishing a national repository for surveillance data.
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