Patterns of Chemotherapy Exposure and Adherence to Safety Practices Among Nurses: A Pilot Descriptive Study

The aim of the study was to describe the patterns of exposure to chemotherapy and adherence to chemotherapy safe handling practices among oncology nurses.

A cross-sectional survey design was employed. Oncology nurse participants completed online surveys assessing nurses' demographics, exposure patterns, and their chemotherapy handling practices.

One hundred and twenty-three nurses completed the surveys. Participants were recruited from two medical centers in the Midwest region in the United States and social media. Generally, the study findings indicate that nurses are exposed to chemotherapy through various routes, and their use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and chemotherapy-specific equipment is less than the recommended standards. Twenty-one participants (18.1%) experienced chemotherapy exposure, primarily through skin. The participants followed safe chemotherapy handling guidelines at 54.5% of the time. The adherence level was lowest during chemotherapy preparation (43.5% of the time) and highest during chemotherapy administration (63.2% of the time). Engineering control equipment (i.e., closed system transfer devices) was used most of the time during chemotherapy preparation and administration. Among PPE, chemotherapy-specific gloves and gowns were used most frequently across all handling procedures, while eye and respiratory protective equipment were used least frequently.

This study highlights the necessity of developing interventions to enhance adherence to safe chemotherapy handling guidelines among nurses at the individual and institutional levels and to address any potential barriers to adherence. Future research is needed to investigate organizational factors and individual factors and their relationships with the patterns of adherence to handling guidelines.