The Sources of Contamination from Chemotherapy Essay

Since chemotherapy agents have been around in the 1950s there have been studies to find out the effect on the health care workers, particularly the pharmacists who make the drugs and nurses who administer the drugs to the patients. I will be focusing my research on the nurses who administer the chemotherapy drugs to the patients. Chemotherapy falls under the hazardous drug category due to the low levels of exposure nurses are exposed to while administering chemotherapy. The first study on oncology nurses and risks of chemotherapy exposure where done in the late 1970s when mutagenic changes were discovered in the urine of nurses who administered chemotherapy. The first set of guidelines for the safe handling of chemotherapy was made around†¦show more content†¦On my first day of clinical one nurse put on the personal protection equipment (PPE) and said, â€Å"I am just wearing this to show you what we’re supposed to do† but then they don’t regularly use all the PPE required. When discussing the PPE while administering chemo some nurses even said they â€Å"don’t work in an NCLEX hospital†. This made me want to see what the exact protocol is at UMH for handling chemotherapy drugs and why these precautions are in place. According to the Policy and Procedures UMHC/Sylvester, in the Chemotherapy and Biotherapy Standards and Policies Code 1321 (2012), before administering chemotherapy nurses must have the following PPE available: Powder free disposable gloves used for handling chemotherapeutic agents, disposable lint free gown with solid front and long sleeves with tight cuffs and back closure, eye and face protection if risk for splashing present respirator mask for cleaning spill or risk of aerosol exposure. (Pg. 2). Discussion of leadership strategies to interface/solve the problem with review of the literature Each hospital or clinic has their own policies and procedures in place to protect employees who administer chemotherapy. Since some nurses give chemotherapy to patients regularly, it’s important to always follow these procedures and know why they are set in place. According Polovich and Martin (2011), chemotherapy exposure by nurses has been linked to short and long term health effects,Show MoreRelatedAutism Is A Neurodevelopmental Disorder962 Words   |  4 PagesVaccines may trigger autism due to several reasons. First of all, thimerosal is a preservative in certain vaccines. About half of its weight is mercury (Hg) which could lead to autism (Delong, 2011, p.904). Therefore, thimerosal has been eliminated from many vaccines, but not all of them. There are still some thimerosal-containing vaccines being used. Besides Hg, vaccines also contain the neurotoxin aluminum (Al) which could cause disorders in the central nervous system (Delong, 2011, p.904). 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