Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Safe Handling of Cytotoxic Drugs Among Oncology Nurses in Tanta University Hospitals

Abstract

Introduction: Occupational exposure to antineoplastic agents and safe handling of cytotoxic drugs (CDs) had gained a high concern among oncology nursing staff due to their potential health risks. Many organizations such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Oncology Nursing Society and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have recommended guidelines for safe handling of cytotoxic drugs. Aim of work: To assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of oncology nursing staff working at Tanta University Hospitals towards the safe handling of CDs. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted for 3 months (from February to April, 2018) at the Oncology department in Tanta University Hospitals, Egypt. A pre-designed questionnaire was used to assess nurses` KAP regarding safe handling of CDs. Results: A total of 55 oncology nurses participated in the study. The total KAP scores of nurses towards the safe handling of CDs were satisfactory among 63.6% of the studied group. The mean scores of responses for knowledge, attitudes, and practices were 19.05 ± 4.8 out of 26, 13.09 ± 3.07 out of 16, and 8.87 ± 1.35 out of 12, respectively. More than half of the nurses had previous training in the Oncology department. Defective use of personal protective equipments (PPE) during various steps of CDs handling was noticed. Conclusion: There was inadequate practice of safe handling of CDs and defective implementation of guidelines among the studied oncology nurses, necessitating more frequent in-service training and audit system to monitor and evaluate their performance after training.

Knowledge and associated factors towards cytotoxic drug handling among University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital health professionals, institutional-based cross-sectional study

“…The association of practice with knowledge was in line with a previous study [9]. Nonetheless, the practice has no association with knowledge in other studies [23,27].…”

“…In the current study, 52.7% (47.8-57.8%) of the health professionals had good knowledge about cytotoxic drug handling. The proportion of health professionals with good knowledge about CDs handling in the current study was lower than previous reports among healthcare professionals in Kenya [27], nurses in Turkey [30], nurses and pharmacists in Italy [31], and oncology nurses in Egypt [23]. The lower proportion of knowledge about CDs in the current study might be because cancer treatment units are recently established in the university.…”

“…Health professionals who received training about CD handling were more likely to have better CD handling knowledge as compared to those who did not attend training. Several previous studies supported that training improves knowledge about cytotoxic drug handling [9,23,29,[35][36][37][38].…”

“…Antineoplastic drugs (CDS) are known to cause problems to health workers, the environment, and the general public [22]. CDS can induce significant side effects in patients or any other person exposed to them [23]. CDS, if not properly handled, may end up in the drinking water and put the general public to several health consequences [24].…”

Environmental Contamination and Occupational Exposure of Algerian Hospital Workers

“…Since engineering controls such as biosafety cabinets are costly, healthcare workers in low-and middle-income countries have to rely more on other measures to control hazard (e.g., personal protective equipment) (17). However, studies on safe handling of cytostatic drugs among healthcare workers in middle-income countries reported insufficient or complete lack of specialized training, inappropriate cleaning procedures and a high variability in awareness of potential hazards and use of personal protective equipment (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23). In general, these studies indicate the need for a better implementation of guidelines.…”