Podcasts about safe handling

“The signaling and that binding of the MET and the HGF help, in a downstream way, lead to cell proliferation, cell motility, survival, angiogenesis, and also invasion—so all of those key cancer hallmarks. And because of it being on an epithelial cell, it's a really good marker because it's found in many, many different types of cancers, so it makes it what we call kind of a nice actionable mutation,” ONS member Marianne Davies, DNP, ACNP, AOCNP®, FAAN, senior oncology nurse practitioner at Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center in New Haven, CT, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about the MET inhibitor drug class. Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at courses.ons.org by May 9, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Learning outcome: Learners will report an increase in knowledge related to MET inhibitors. Episode Notes  Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.  ONS Podcast™ episodes: Pharmacology 101 series Episode 330: Stay Up to Date on Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs ONS Voice articles: Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Amivantamab-Vmjw Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Cabozantinib Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Capmatinib Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Tepotinib Predictive and Diagnostic Biomarkers: Identifying Variants Helps Providers Tailor Cancer Surveillance Plans and Treatment Selection ONS books: Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice (second edition) Clinical Guide to Antineoplastic Therapy: A Chemotherapy Handbook (fourth edition) Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs (fourth edition) Telephone Triage for Oncology Nurses (third edition) ONS courses: Safe Handling Basics ONS Biomarker Database ONS Huddle Cards: Monoclonal Antibodies Targeted Therapy ONS Oral Anticancer Medication Learning Library ONS Oral Anticancer Medication Toolkit ONS and NCODA Oral Anticancer Medication Compass Oral Chemotherapy Education Sheets IV Chemotherapy Education Sheets Drugs@FDA To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode “The MET receptor was actually identified back in 1984. And it was actually identified as an oncogene in osteosarcoma. And so basically what that MET receptor does—it's a tyrosine kinase pathway, and the ligand that it attaches to is something called HGF/SF. That's hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor. And so this MET pathway tyrosine kinase pathway is really important in tumor cell growth and migration. And it's expressed specifically on epithelial cells, so that's going to really help us in identifying how it can be a pathway for cancer treatments.” TS 1:35 “But in the particular classes, there kind of are some unique things that are with these MET inhibitors. For example, crizotinib, we found early on, causes some vision changes. Patients would report things like floaters or a little bit of blurry vision. For the capmatinib, things like elevation of amylase and lipase, fluid retention and bloating, and hypersensitivity reactions and photosensitivity.” TS 7:36 “Other things to teach for the TKI is the self-management strategies in terms of nausea management and dietary changes for the risk of peripheral edema. Having them do things like maybe doing daily weights, or at least weights every other day, and sometimes doing limb measurements so it can help us really quantify the amount of fluid retention they have. And then from a nursing perspective, meeting with these patients, is to do really good skin inspection. When people have peripheral edema, they're at risk for skin breakdown, and that can lead obviously to infection.” TS 16:06 “The biggest [misconception] is that people assume that all MET mutations are going to be equally responsive to the same targeted therapies, that all of the abnormalities are the same and react the same, and they really don't. We're really diving down and carving that pie thinner and thinner in terms of each individual MET abnormality, in terms of what drugs responds it to and what that means for patient outcomes and prognosis.” TS 25:21

“It's been known for quite a while that [KRAS] is a mutation that leads to cancer development, but for really over four decades, researchers couldn't figure out a way to target it. And so, it was often considered something that was undruggable. But all of this changed recently. So about four years ago, in 2021, we had the approval of the first KRAS inhibitor. So it's specifically a KRAS G12C inhibitor known as sotorasib,” Danielle Roman, PharmD, BCOP, manager of clinical pharmacy services at the Allegheny Health Network Cancer Institute in Pittsburgh, PA, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about the KRAS inhibitor drug class. Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at courses.ons.org by April 11, 2027. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Learning outcome: Learners will report an increase in knowledge related to KRAS inhibitors used for cancer treatment. Episode Notes  Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.  ONS Podcast™ episodes: Pharmacology 101 series Cancer Symptom Management Basics series Episode 330: Stay Up to Date on Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs ONS Voice articles: First KRAS-Targeted Therapy Receives FDA Approval for Lung Cancer Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Adagrasib Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Sotorasib ONS books: Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice (second edition) Clinical Guide to Antineoplastic Therapy: A Chemotherapy Handbook (fourth edition) Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs (fourth edition) ONS course: Safe Handling Basics ONS video: What is the role of the KRAS biomarker in NSCLC? ONS Targeted Therapy Huddle Card ONS Oral Anticancer Medication Learning Library ONS Oral Anticancer Medication Toolkit ONS and NCODA Oral Anticancer Medication Compass Oral Chemotherapy Education Sheets Lumakras® (sotorasib) manufacturer website Krazati® (adagrasib) manufacturer website UpToDate Lexidrug (formerly Lexicomp) To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode “If we look at specifically non-small cell lung cancer, this KRAS mutation is one of the most frequently detected cancer drivers or driver mutations. It's thought that about a quarter of cases of non-small cell lung cancer have this KRAS mutation, and it's usually a specific amino acid substitution that we see in non-small cell lung cancer, so what's known as KRAS G12C mutation.” TS 2:31 “Both of these agents, sotorasib and adagrasib, have the same mechanism of action. They bind to a pocket, very specifically on the KRAS G12C protein, and they lock it in an inactive state so that it can't cause that downstream uncontrolled signaling to happen. So they're kind of shutting down the signaling, and therefore you don't get that uncontrolled cell growth and proliferation.” TS 4:27 “Another big difference to point out, and one that is often used in clinical practice to differentiate when to use these agents, is specifically adagrasib is known to have activity in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer that have active brain metastases. In the clinical trial, they included patients with active brain metastases, and they found that this drug has great [central nervous system] penetration. And so it may be considered the agent of choice in patients with brain metastases.” TS 7:19 “Other considerations—I think one of the big ones—is that there are a lot of drug interactions. Just specifically calling one out that I think is pretty impactful, is sotorasib has an interaction with acid-suppressing medications. So there is the recommendation to avoid [proton pump inhibitors] and H2 antagonists in patients receiving sotorasib. They can take antacids, but you would need to space those out from their dose of sotorasib.” TS 14:14 “This needs to be a collaborative endeavor to make sure these patients are monitored appropriately. We are putting a lot of responsibility on the patients with all of this. So, again, completely administered generally in the home setting, a lot of monitoring, a lot of adverse effects, need for reporting and management—so there's a lot happening here. And it takes a team to accomplish this and to do it right. And I firmly believe that this is often a collaborative effort between our pharmacy and oncology nursing teams to make this happen. Working together to ensure outreach to patients—I think that patients are often more successful with these medications with early identification of toxicities when we're doing scheduled outreach.” TS 19:44

“There have been many changes since the '70s that have shaped the nurse's role in administering chemo, and in supporting patients. The major change early on was the transition from that of nurses mixing chemo to that of pharmacists. Regulatory agencies like NIOSH and OSHA defined chemotherapy as hazardous drugs, and professional organizations became involved, leading to the publication of the joint ASCO and ONS Standards of Safe Handling,” ONS member Scarlott Mueller, MPH, RN, FAAN, secretary of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Board and member of the Oncology Nursing Foundation Capital Campaign Cabinet, told Darcy Burbage, DNP, RN, AOCN®, CBCN®, ONS member and chair of the ONS 50th Anniversary Committee during a conversation about the evolution of chemotherapy treatment. Along with Mueller, Burbage spoke with John Hillson, DNP, NP, Mary Anderson, BSN, RN, OCN®, and Kathleen Shannon-Dorcy, PhD, RN, FAAN, about the changes in radiation, oral chemotherapy, and cellular therapy treatments they have witnessed during their careers. Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  Episode Notes  This episode is not eligible for NCPD. ONS Podcast™ episodes: 50th anniversary series Episode 330: Stay Up to Date on Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs Episode 59: Blood and Marrow Transplant Nursing Episode 16: Navigating the Challenges of Oral Chemotherapy ONS Voice article:Safe Handling—We've Come a Long Way, Baby! ONS books: Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice (second edition) Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: A Manual for Nursing Practice (third edition) Oncology Nurse Navigation: Delivering Patient-Centered Care Across the Continuum (second edition) Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs (fourth edition) ONS courses: ONS Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation™ ONS/ONCC® Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Certificate™ ONS/ONCC® Radiation Therapy Certificate™ Safe Handling Basics Oral Anticancer Medication Toolkit Oral Anticancer Medication Care Compass Patient education guides created as a collaboration between ONS, HOPA, NCODA, and the Association of Community Cancer Centers: IV Cancer Treatment Education Sheets Oral Chemotherapy Education Sheets Connie Henke Yarbro Oncology Nursing History Center To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities.  To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode Hillson: “I remember as a new grad, from back in '98, walking up to the oncology floor. We had patients with pink labels on the chart and that was the radiation oncology service. I hadn't heard of such a thing before. … I'd gone through nursing school and hospital orientation and unit orientation without ever hearing of these therapies. At the time, both the management and the union had no interest in specialist nurses, and the really weren't any books that were targeting the role. And it was very isolating and frightening. I was very glad to find ONS when I moved to the U.S. Right now, the Oncology Nursing Society Manual for Radiation Oncology, Nursing Practice, and Education, it's in its fifth edition and a sixth is underway. There's nothing else like it. Most books are very much geared towards other professions.” TS 5:34 Mueller: “We mixed our chemo in a very small medication room on the unit, under a horizontal laminar flow hood, which we later discovered should have been a vertical laminar flow hood. Initially, we did not use any personal protective equipment. I remember mixing drugs like bleomycin and getting a little spray that from the vial onto my face. And to this day, I still have a few facial blemishes from that.” TS 14:28 Anderson: “As the increasing number of these actionable mutations continue to grow, so will the number of oral anticancer medications that patients are going to be taking. And we are already seeing that there's multiple combination regimens and complex schedules that the patients have to take. So this role the oral oncolytic nurse and the nursing role, like you said, it cannot be owned by one individual or discipline. So it's not a pharmacist; the pharmacies aren't owning this. The nurses are not owning this. It takes a village.” TS 32:12 Shannon-Dorcy: Then as immunotherapy comes into the picture, we start to learn about [cytokine release syndrome]. All of a sudden, we had no concept that this was a deadly consequence. ONS was on the front lines, convening people across the country together so we could speak to the investigative work with science and find ways that we could intervene, how we can look for signs of it early on with handwriting testing.” TS 39:58

“And so you have different kinds of hazards with the drugs that you're using. That means that in the past, when a lot of oncology drugs, antineoplastic drugs used to treat cancer would have been added, you may see that a lot of oncology drugs either weren't added or they're added in a different place on the list than they were in the past. That's due to some of the restructuring of the list we'll probably talk about later,” Jerald L. Ovesen, PhD, pharmacologist at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about the latest update to the NIOSH list of hazardous drugs.  Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod  Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0   Episode Notes   NCPD contact hours are not available for this episode.  ONS Podcast™ episodes: Episode 330: Stay Up to Date on Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs  Episode 142: The How-To of Home Infusions Episode 68: Empowering Healthcare Workers to Handle Hazardous Drugs Episode 53: Home Care Nursing for Patients With Cancer ONS Voice articles: Hazardous Drug Surface Contamination Prevails, Despite More Diligent PPE  NIOSH Releases Its 2024 List of Hazardous Drugs  No Place Like It: Home Care for Patients With Cancer  What Is ONS's Stance on Handling Chemotherapy While Pregnant, Breastfeeding, or Trying to Conceive?  What You Wear Matters When It Comes to Safety  ONS book: Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs (Fourth Edition)  ONS course: Safe Handling Basics  Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing article: Safe Management of Chemotherapy in the Home  ONS Learning Library: Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs  ONS Position Statement: Ensuring Healthcare Worker Safety When Handling Hazardous Drugs  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health article: Managing Hazardous Drug Exposures: Information for Healthcare Settings  NIOSH List of Hazardous Drugs in Healthcare Settings, 2024  To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities.   To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library.  To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org.  Highlights From This Episode  “So we look for a carcinogenic hazard. So does this molecule, does this chemical, this drug, have the ability to increase the risk of cancer? A lot of the time that will also tie with genotoxic hazards, but not always. There are some drugs on the list that are carcinogenic through other mechanisms. Sometimes carcinogenicity can be related to hormone signals, can lead to increased risk of cancer. There's some nuance there, but is it a carcinogenic hazard? That can get it onto the list. Is it a developmental and reproductive hazard?” TS 10:48  “NIOSH can't say what's right for every situation, but some organizations have suggested further precautions such as temporary alternative duty for workers who are pregnant or are looking to become pregnant. NIOSH can't say what's best for any given facility, but other organizations have given some good suggestions you may want to look into.” TS 13:18  “The list doesn't really rank hazard. I know a lot of people have kind of treated it that way a lot of times. We don't say that something is less hazardous if it's only a developmental or reproductive hazard, because if you're trying to have a child, then that's an important hazard to you. And we don't necessarily say something that's carcinogenic is more hazardous.” TS 14:34  “Some standard setting organizations have set standards for handling. Really in the oncology setting, particularly oncology pharmacy setting, it's really changed how some of the handling happens there because some of the standards come out of the pharmacy world. And what's happened there is some drugs that are oncology drugs, they might have been on table one before just because they were used in the treatment of cancer. They were antineoplastics, so they were on table one. Now, because they're not identified as a potential carcinogen and they don't have manufactured special handling information, they are now on table two.” TS 23:39  “Occasionally, if a drug comes out and has manufacturer special handling information, we'll go ahead and add it to the list. And since we won't add it into the publication, we typically have a table on that page that puts that there. If a drug is reevaluated and we find that the hazard is not as bad as expected or it's not a hazard, actually, and we can remove it from the list; sometimes we get new information and that happens.” TS 30:30 

“What I find most rewarding is connecting with nurses, who now understand the risks of exposure and are committed to minimizing their personal exposure. When I first started speaking about safe handling, there were a lot of nurses who were skeptical about the need for self-protection. I rarely see that now. Nurses are concerned for their own safety and more open to protective behaviors,” ONS member Martha Polovich, PhD, RN, AOCN®-Emeritus, adjunct professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland, told Liz Rodriguez, DNP, RN, OCN®, CENP, ONS member and 50th anniversary committee member, during a conversation about the evolution of safe handling of hazardous drugs and ONS's role in shaping safe handling policies. Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at courses.ons.org by February 7, 2027. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Learning outcome: Learners will report an increase in knowledge related to the evolution of safe handling guidelines. Episode Notes  Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.    ONS Podcast™ episodes: Episode 330: Stay Up to Date on Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs Episode 308: Hazardous Drugs and Hazardous Waste: Personal, Patient, and Environmental Safety ONS 50th Anniversary series ONS Voice articles: Hazardous Drug Surface Contamination Prevails, Despite More Diligent PPE NIOSH Releases Its 2024 List of Hazardous Drugs USP Answers Some Difficult Questions About Hazardous Drug Safety ONS books: Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice (second edition) Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs (fourth edition) ONS courses: ONS Fundamentals of Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Administration™ ONS/ONCC Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Certificate™ Safe Handling Basics Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles: Hazardous Drug Contamination: Presence of Bathroom Contamination in an Ambulatory Cancer Center Oral Chemotherapy: An Evidence-Based Practice Change for Safe Handling of Patient Waste Huddle Card: Introduction to Safe Handling ONS Safe Handling Learning Library Joint ONS and Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA) position statement: Ensuring Healthcare Worker Safety When Handling Hazardous Drugs National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: Managing Hazardous Drug Exposures: Information for Healthcare Settings American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Guidelines on Handling Hazardous Drugs USP FAQs Connie Henke Yarbro Oncology Nursing History Center To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities.  To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode “PPE has always been recommended to reduce exposure because gloves and gowns provide physical barrier to protect against dermal absorption. But what we didn't know back then was what gloves and gowns were made of mattered. So PVC gloves were often used just because they were readily available in all our clinical settings. Gowns were rarely worn for drug administration, even though they had been recommended since early on, and many considered gowns back then as optional because the wording in the [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] guidelines said ‘recommended' and not ‘required.'” TS 3:19 “Those early chemo gloves were a bit like wearing gloves you might use to clean your oven. They were so thick and got in the way of taking care of patients or mixing drugs or administering drugs. So the biggest change, I think, is that gloves that are currently available are very thin, and they provide the necessary protection for those who are handling hazardous drugs. We now have a gloves standard that requires permeation studies to demonstrate the protective ability of the gloves before they can be labeled for use with hazardous drugs.” TS 11:56 “ONS and HOPA developed a position statement on safe handling of hazardous drugs. … This came because our two organizations were unable to support some of the other proposed guidelines from another organization. So we got together, and through our cooperation, resulted in language about the importance of safe handling, about supporting safe handling for practitioners, pharmacists, and nurses. Also, I feel really good about this—our cooperation resulted in language about protecting the rights of staff who are trying to conceive or who are pregnant or who are breastfeeding to engage in alternative duty that doesn't require them to handle hazardous drugs.” TS 17:12 “If there's no worker safety, then who's going to take care of the patients?” TS 21:52 “What I find most rewarding is connecting with nurses, who now understand the risks of exposure and are committed to minimizing their personal exposure. When I first started speaking about safe handling, and that's going back a long way, there were a lot of nurses who were skeptical about the need for self-protection. They had been handling hazardous drugs for years and had no signs of ill effects, and so they assumed that we weren't overreacting with all of the recommendations. They saw the use of precautions and PPE as a speed bump in their busy day and also thought that was unnecessary. I rarely see that now. Nurses are concerned for their own safety and more open to protective behaviors.” TS 23:50

“The reality is that we are responsible for creating a culture of safety together for everybody in the clinical area. We have to think not only about ourselves and our personal risk, but how exposure to these hazardous drugs persists in the work environment for everybody. And we have to be part of the solution for everybody, even if it's not something that we're personally really worried about being exposed to,” AnnMarie Walton, PhD, MPH, RN, OCN®, CHES, FAAN, associate professor at Duke University School of Nursing in Durham, NC, told Lenise Taylor, MN, RN, AOCNS®, BMTCN®, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, during a conversation about updates to the fourth edition of Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs, one of ONS's book publications. Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at courses.ons.org by September 20, 2026. AnnMarie Walton serves in a compensated consultant role with Splashblocker LLC and as a compensated speaker for BD. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Learning outcome: Learner will report an increase in knowledge related to safe handling of hazardous drugs.  Episode Notes Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.  Oncology Nursing Podcast™ episodes: Episode 325: What Changed in the 2024 ASCO/ONS Antineoplastic Administration Safety Standards Episode 308: Hazardous Drugs and Hazardous Waste: Personal, Patient, and Environmental Safety ONS Voice articles: Hazardous Drug Surface Contamination Prevails, Despite More Diligent PPE Strategies to Promote Safe Medication Administration Practices ONS books: Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice (second edition) Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs (fourth edition) ONS courses: ONS/ONCC Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Certificate™ Safe Handling Basics Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles: Environmental Risk Factors: The Role of Oncology Nurses in Assessing and Reducing the Risk for Exposure Oral Chemotherapy: A Home Safety Educational Framework for Healthcare Providers, Patients, and Caregivers Oral Chemotherapy: An Evidence-Based Practice Change for Safe Handling of Patient Waste Personal Protective Equipment Use and Surface Contamination With Antineoplastic Drugs: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic Oncology Nursing Forum articles: Factors Influencing Nurses' Use of Hazardous Drug Safe Handling Precautions Randomized Controlled Trial of an Intervention to Improve Nurses' Hazardous Drug Handling ONS Learning Library: Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs Joint ONS and Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association position statement: Ensuring Healthcare Worker Safety When Handling Hazardous Drugs ONS Voice video: Hazardous Drug Surface Contamination—The Science Behind the Study To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities.  To find resources for creating an Oncology Nursing Podcast™ Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode “We know that this book is used in practice sites across the country and increasingly around the world, and we have the privilege of answering lots of questions of ONS's members routinely. And we've also been part of writing guidance documents for ONS. And so, we utilized, as well, some of those questions that have come to us, and we know what people want to know more about. So we've made sure that we've developed a book that would be the most helpful in clinical practice settings.” TS 2:42 “We ensured that the book was in alignment with all of the most recent organizational position statements, standards, and recommendations. And there have been some big ones between the publication of the third and fourth book. So USP 800 is one that everyone knows about, and that became enforceable in November of 2023. … The ONS/HOPA [Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association] position statement, which was most recently updated in 2022, was also folded into this book. NIOSH [National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health] came out with two new guidance documents in 2023, and I had the opportunity to serve as a reviewer on one and a contributor to the other. Those two NIOSH guidelines have been folded into this book And then the ONS Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice, which MiKaela Olsen was a lead editor on and I was an author for, have also been folded into this text.” TS 7:01 “We've understood the NIOSH hierarchy of controls for years, and if we look at that hierarchy, it tells us that PPE is important but also the least effective when it comes to controlling exposure. And what's slightly more effective is administrative controls, which are things like changes in our practices, more education, and training. And then even more powerful than administrative controls are engineering controls, and these are your closed-system transfer devices, for example, that are really important in minimizing exposure.” TS 10:31 “[Toilet pluming] is a place that I, for better or worse, spend a lot of time. And I have a colleague, Tom Connor from NIH [National Institutes of Health], who likes to joke when people ask him about his work. He says, ‘Oh, it's in the toilet.' And so I'm going to steal that from him and say a lot of my research is in the toilet, too.” TS 13:16 “I feel like people don't know how contaminated toilets are and how contaminated floors are. And I've already told you my tip about leaving your work shoes outside. But I think if people were more aware that the toilets and the floors are often the most contaminated places on a unit, there would be more attention paid to people who are coming into contact with those surfaces and bear a lot of the exposure risk.” TS 22:51

“A lot of the efforts have been made to improve the patient experience for these treatments, as they can be given for years at a time. For example, when leuprolide debuted way back in 1985, it was a daily injection. But four years later, they developed the monthly depo formulation. Now we have formulations that are approved for administration once only every three, four, and even six months,” Andrew Ruplin, PharmD, clinical oncology pharmacist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, WA, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about the luteinizing hormone–releasing hormone (LHRH) antagonist and agonist drug classes. Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at myoutcomes.ons.org by August 9, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Learning outcome: Learners will report an increase in knowledge related to LHRH antagonists and agonists. Episode Notes  Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.  Oncology Nursing Podcast episodes: Pharmacology 101 series Episode 321: Pharmacology 101: CYP17 Inhibitors Episode 242: Oncology Pharmacology 2023: Today's Treatments and Tomorrow's Breakthroughs Episode 154: New Drug Approvals for Metastatic Castration-Sensitive Prostate Cancer Episode 113: Manage Cancer-Related Hot Flashes With ONS Guidelines™ ONS Voice article: Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Relugolix ONS books: Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice (second edition) Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs (fourth edition) Guide to Breast Care for Oncology Nurses ONS course: Safe Handling Basics ONS Guidelines™ and Symptom Interventions ONS Huddle Card: Hormone Therapy ONS Learning Libraries: Breast Cancer Cancer of the Genitourinary Tract Oral Chemotherapy Education Sheets National Comprehensive Cancer Network On the Treatment of Inoperable Cases of Carcinoma of the Mamma: Suggestions for a New Method of Treatment, With Illustrative Cases (by George T. Beatson) To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities.  To find resources for creating an Oncology Nursing Podcast™ Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the Oncology Nursing Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode “Between all of these agonists and antagonists, there's a broad spectrum of applications, including hormone-positive breast cancer, androgen-deprivation therapy for prostate cancer, uterine cancer, and then other non-cancer uses like uterine fibroids, and assisted reproduction fertility treatments, and other things too.” TS 3:24 “In the education of my female patients, I basically use the analogy that it is functionally inducing menopause in that person, so there can be changes to mood and cognition, energy level fatigue, body morphology, and shifts in fat distribution metabolism, which can unfortunately increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. One that almost everyone's familiar with is hot flashes, but also changes to bone mineral density, libido and physically to atrophy and dryness of vaginal mucosa, which can make sex for our patients more difficult as well.” TS 10:33 “A concept that's familiar to all professionals in the care of prostate cancer is that because LHRH agonists cause an initial increase in testosterone, which can, in essence, feed the cancer, some patients can experience worsening symptoms of their cancer, such as difficulty voiding their bladder pain, or even vertebral collapse or spinal cord compression when bone metastases are present. This is a really serious issue that should be considered ahead of starting an agonist in these patients.” TS 12:39 “I don't think we'll see any dramatic changes in treating breast cancer, since the role of these agents is a lot more limited and simply really exist to suppress estrogen and premenopausal patients. But as a referral center that routinely sees patients with breast cancer and their 40s and 30s and even their 20s, it's crucial to consider these agents in their role for not only actively treating certain types of breast cancer, but also in preserving fertility for patients who desire to have children and they are receiving gonadotoxic chemotherapy.” TS 25:32

Episode 321: Pharmacology 101: CYP17 Inhibitors “I think we're in a scientific golden age for prostate cancer and probably cancer as a whole, but we're talking about prostate cancer today. So I'm excited to be sitting on the front lines, seeing the new ways that we can help our patients. But I do still think CYP17 inhibitors will continue to be one of our main weapons against prostate cancer for a very long time,” Andrew Ruplin, PharmD, clinical oncology pharmacist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, WA, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about the CYP17 inhibitor drug class. Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at myoutcomes.ons.org by July 19, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of NCPD by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Learning outcome: The learner will report an increase in knowledge related to CYP17 inhibitors. Episode Notes  Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.  Oncology Nursing Podcast episodes: Pharmacology 101 series Episode 242: Oncology Pharmacology 2023: Today's Treatments and Tomorrow's Breakthroughs Episode 154: New Drug Approvals for Metastatic Castration-Sensitive Prostate Cancer ONS Voice article: The Case of the Genomics-Guided Care for Prostate Cancer ONS course: Safe Handling Basics ONS books: Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice (second edition) Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs (fourth edition) Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing article: Navigating Treatment of Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: Nursing Perspectives Oncology Nursing Forum articles: Interventions to Support Adherence to Oral Anticancer Medications: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis ONS Guidelines™ to Support Patient Adherence to Oral Anticancer Medications ONS Huddle Card: Hormone Therapy ONS Biomarker Database (refine by prostate cancer) ONS Learning Libraries: Cancer of the Genitourinary Tract Oral Anticancer Medication Oral Chemotherapy Education Sheets To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an Oncology Nursing Podcast™ Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode “Identification of CYP17 as a target to decrease androgen production led to the first synthesis of a dedicated inhibitor of CYP17 named abiraterone acetate in the 1990s. But it would also not be until 2011, when there was sufficient evidence through clinical trials, for the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] to approve abiraterone as treatment for castrate-resistant prostate cancer. And since then, abiraterone has been studied in many different stages of prostate cancer and has demonstrated clear benefits to survival for patients with metastatic or nonmetastatic prostate cancer and in the castrate-sensitive setting, as well.” TS 3:07 “Patients on abiraterone, regardless of the formulation that they get, they also have to receive an oral steroid every day while undergoing treatment due to the risk of that mineralocorticoid excess. … CYP17 inhibition by abiraterone leads to the loss of negative feedback on the adrenocorticotropic hormone, or ACTH, through a relative cortisol deficiency, which then results in higher levels of ACTH, which then cause the formation of excess precursors, including those mineralocorticoids that are upstream of the CYP17 inhibition step of androgen formation.” TS 14:04 “I recommend that patients take the standard formulation of abiraterone on an empty stomach. Conversely, I do recommend patients take their steroids with food to reduce the chances of [gastrointestinal] upset from their steroids. And so, I emphasize to these patients that abiraterone and the steroid do not need to be taken together at the same time, even though they are both a component of their treatment, and that they probably should, in fact, take them a little bit separately.” TS 23:00 “Now we're really in the phase of studying combination treatments, and we've had some really good results so far. So, one of the combinations that made a splash a few years ago is what we call triplet therapy, so abiraterone plus docetaxel plus [androgen-deprivation therapy], docetaxel being a traditional cytotoxic chemotherapy that's been used in prostate cancer for several decades now. But now we're combining it with CYP17 inhibitors and other novel hormonal therapies, which has been exciting. So, this has been implemented into the standard of care for metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.” TS 27:26  

Three Angsty Poets, Rebecca Evans, Tomas Baiza, and Christian Winn, gathered together to chat initially about poetry, but the conversation turned, and they found themselves invigorated, inspired, and mostly miffed at the world, the gods, the past, the future. Here is the first in their series of angsty thoughts: My Angst on Your Perception, where they chat about audience and readers' assumptions pressed on the narrator, the speaker, the poet.  Rebecca Evans writes the difficult, the heart-full, the guidebooks for survivors. Her work has appeared in Narratively, The Rumpus, Brevity, and more. She's earned two MFAs, one in creative nonfiction, the other in poetry, University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe. She's authored a full-length poetry collection, Tangled by Blood (Moon Tide Press, 2023), and has a second poetry book, Safe Handling, forthcoming (Moon Tide Press, 2024). She shares space with four Newfoundlands and her sons in a tiny Idaho town.  rebeccaevanswriter.com    Tomás Baiza is originally from San José, California, and now finds himself in Boise, Idaho. He is the author of the novel, Delivery: A Pocho's Accidental Guide to College, Love, and Pizza Delivery (Running Wild Press, 2023), and the mixed-genre collection A Purpose to Our Savagery (RIZE Press, 2023). Delivery was selected as the 2024 Treasure Valley Reads featured novel, and Tomás's writing has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, the Best of the Net, and Best American Short Stories anthologies. Tomás has fenced in Italy, been rescued by helicopter from the Sierra Nevada, fended off wild dogs while hitchhiking in rural Morelos, México, and once delivered a dozen pizzas to a Klingon-themed orgy at a sci-fi convention. When he is not writing, Tomás is running trails or obsessing over bonsai trees.      Christian Winn is a fiction writer, poet, nonfiction writer, teacher of creative writing, and producer of literary and storytelling events based in Boise, Idaho. He is the author of two story collections, NAKED ME, and What's Wrong With You is What's Wrong With Me, and the forthcoming novels, Crocodile, and My History With Careless People and Other Stories. His work has appeared in McSweeney's, Ploughshares, The Chicago Tribune's Printers Row Journal, Glimmer Train, Joyland, ExPat Press, TriQuarterly, Gulf Coast, and many other fine magazines and journals. He was the Idaho Writer in Residence, the State's highest literary honor, from 2016-2019. Find out more about Winn's writings and work at christianwinn.com 

Grab a snack and a beverage and tuck into this great conversation with Elizabeth and writer Rebecca Evans. So much ground covered! She reads some of her work, including an exclusive reading from her upcoming book Safe Handling. Rebecca is also the co-host of a radio show Writer to Writer as well! Learn more at https://rebeccaevanswriter.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/meatforteacast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/meatforteacast/support

“One of the things that I know Dr. [Tom] Connor worked on very heavily in his career is the long-term impact on the health of nurses and other exposed healthcare workers. We definitely need more longitudinal studies, which are difficult to do. And it's not something that you see every day where I talk to chemo nurses and said, ‘Hey, I've been in this 20 years. It hasn't bothered me at all.' Well, until it does. Therefore, it's so important when we're training incoming nurses—how very important it is to start with these practices early in the career and throughout the career,” Charlotte A. Smith, RPh, MS, senior regulatory advisor at Waste Management PharmEcology Services in Milwaukee, WI, told Lenise Taylor, MN, RN, AOCNS®, BMTCN®, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, during a conversation about hazardous drug and waste disposal. Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at myoutcomes.ons.org by April 19, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of NCPD by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Learning outcome: Learners will report an increase in knowledge related to hazardous drugs and hazardous waste. Episode Notes  Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.  Oncology Nursing Podcast episodes: Episode 209: Updates in Chemo PPE and Safe Handling Episode 142: The How-To of Home Infusions ONS Voice articles: Two Oncology Nurses Implement Process to Allow Patients to Disconnect Pumps From the Comfort of Their Own Homes The Oncology Nurse's Role in Oral Anticancer Therapies Strategies to Promote Safe Medication Administration Practices ONS Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs Learning Library ONS position statement: Infusion of Antineoplastic Therapies in the Home ONS book: Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs (fourth edition) ONS course: Safe Handling Basics Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles: Environmental Risk Factors: The Role of Oncology Nurses in Assessing and Reducing the Risk for Exposure Oral Chemotherapy: A Home Safety Educational Framework for Healthcare Providers, Patients, and Caregivers Oral Chemotherapy: An Evidence-Based Practice Change for Safe Handling of Patient Waste Reconciliation and Disposal of Oral Medication: Creating a Safe Process for Clinical Research Personnel Pharmacy Practice News article: Applying NIOSH Hazardous Drug Assessment of Risk Principles To Home Healthcare (by Charlotte Smith and Tom Connor) Books mentioned in this episode: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson Our Stolen Future by Theo Colborn, Diane Dumanoski, and John Peterson Myers Generations at Risk by Ted Schettler, Gina Solomon, Maria Valenti, and Annette Huddle Drug Enforcement Agency: National Prescription Drug Takeback Day Environmental Protection Agency: Final Rule: Management Standards for Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals and Amendment to the P075 Listing for Nicotine MD Anderson Cancer Center: Chemotherapy at Home: 9 Things to Know (patient resource) Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: Safe Handling of Chemotherapy and Biotherapy at Home (patient resource) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: Hazardous Drugs in Healthcare Settings Managing Hazardous Drug Exposures: Information for Healthcare Settings NIOSH List of Antineoplastic and Other Hazardous Drugs in Healthcare Settings, 2016 To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode “A hazardous waste is a chemical, some of which are drugs, that EPA has determined is hazardous to the environment. Hazardous waste may be listed waste, which are given actual numbers, or they may be characteristic waste, which meets certain levels of concern, such as ignitability or toxicity. Only a small percentage of drug waste meets the EPA's definition of hazardous waste, including a number of chemotherapy drugs.” TS 2:09 “The poster child for hazardous waste is warfarin, which, as you may be aware, is not only appropriate for managing clotting time but is also available commercially as rat poison. This is an example of how chemicals can serve more than one purpose and why dosage and regulation are so important.” TS 4:04 “Some of your listeners may have been around long enough to remember the book Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson, in which she eloquently exposed the risks to many species by the widespread use of DDT, an insecticide, at that time. More recently, the book Our Stolen Future by Theo Colborn, a pharmacist, Diane Dumanoski, and John Peterson Myers, raised the specter of the effects of endocrine disruption on wildlife and humans. The effects of drugs like diethylstilbestrol, or DES, once given during pregnancy, on the fetus, impacted the risk of cancer and other untoward effects in the offspring. The book remains a dramatic reminder of the risk of exposure to hazardous chemicals, including drugs.” TS 9:37 “Providing a homecare checklist for both the nurse and the patient and family is a simple way to keep track of all areas that need to be covered. For example, who in the household may be at most risk from exposure? This list includes infants, elderly family members, caregivers, pregnant family members, even pets. Is there a secure area to store the drug that cannot be reached by children?” TS 14:21 “I think what happens—we become so into our routine that what we do on a daily basis, we just kind of go through and do it without always thinking about it. And we can forget that not everyone has the same context of understanding these risks that the medications have to both the environment and the individual exposed to them. And I know it's challenging to put on all the gowns and the gloves and whatnot. And, you know, it gets in the way of doing their job. It's important to educate each individual potentially exposed to these drugs, as if they do not have the understanding that we do. So embedding those consistent safety practices into daily routine is so imperative to ensure safe handling of hazardous drugs and then the proper disposal of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals.” TS 18:55

“A couple of things I think are really important when you look at this class of drug: It developed by a concerted effort in cancer drug development to look at new agents that would be effective based on the mechanism. And then once they found a drug in this class that was beneficial, they further modified it to try to get better efficacy and less toxicity,” Rowena “Moe” Schwartz, PharmD, BCOP, FHOPA, professor of pharmacy practice at James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about the nitrosoureas drug class. Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at myoutcomes.ons.org by March 29, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of NCPD by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Learning outcome: Learners will report an increase in knowledge related to nitrosourea administration. Episode Notes  Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.  Oncology Nursing Podcast episodes: Episode 286: Pharmacology 101: Alkylating Agents Episode 288: Pharmacology 101: Antimetabolites Episode 296: Pharmacology 101: Anthracyclines and Other Antitumor Antibiotics Episode 299: Pharmacology 101: Plant Alkaloids ONS Voice article: The Oncology Nurse's Role in Oral Anticancer Therapies ONS courses: ONS/ONCC Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Administration Certificate™ ONS Fundamentals of Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Administration™ ONS books: Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice (second edition) Clinical Guide to Antineoplastic Therapy: A Chemotherapy Handbook (fourth edition) Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs (fourth edition) Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing article: Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma: Treatment and Nursing Management of Immunocompetent Patients Oncology Nursing Forum article: ONS Guidelines™ to Support Patient Adherence to Oral Anticancer Medications ONS Oral Anticancer Medication Learning Library ONS Oral Adherence Video National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: Hazardous Drugs in Healthcare Settings To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode “With the nitrosoureas, there's something really interesting because there's another mechanism that has been identified. And that is that when you put these nitrosoureas in the body, they break down into intermediates, and one of them is an isocyanate. … These isocyanates, what they do is they inhibit DNA repair, therefore have an impact on cells that are damaged. You can think of it as the second mechanism, and people that work in the neuro-oncology space think of this when they think of drugs like lomustine in brain cancer, how that drug decreases the DNA repair protein O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase.” TS 4:11 “These drugs are very lipophilic, meaning they cross the blood-brain barrier. That's why we use them in brain tumors, so that's one of the key things. That's also one of the toxicities we see when drugs cross blood-brain barrier; we see neurotoxicity. So that's one to at least always consider but also the benefit of it crossing over and being able to treat cancers within the CNS.” TS 8:19 “As a group, these drugs are alkylating agents, so definitely the safe handling is essential. And with DNA-damaging agents, that means anybody who is going to come in contact with these drugs. So, carmustine is given intravenously. Lomustine or CCNU, those are capsules. So handling is different depending on the agents.” TS 12:45 “The thing with the lomustine or the CCNU capsules, the thing that's really important here is that the dosing is really different than how we normally give oral medications. And so, it's really important that patients are aware of exactly how much they take and not that they don't repeat the dose every day. So I think just like with other oral regimens that are not daily, we really have to make sure patients are aware of the specifics of how they take the drug.” TS 14:25

This week, Joey Campagna from CUBEX joined Dr. Ivan Zak and Shawn Wilkie to discuss CUBEX's role in transforming inventory management in veterinary clinics, and its recent innovations, including its involvement in the Safe Handling framework, which sets new standards for managing dangerous drugs. Learn more about CUBEX's solutions at cubex.com.

What are the “do's” and “don'ts” for the safe handling of HCPCS code G2211, used to report payment to physicians and other qualified healthcare providers for the additional work required to adequately care for patients with serious or complex conditions? The code is now payable for the 2024 calendar year (CY).Not only has the code quickly become enigmatic, in the lexicon of medical record coding, but it also must be handled with care – as if operating a powerful band saw.On the surface, the code seems to be relevant and purposeful. But underneath its benign exterior is a complicated network of conditions that could thwart the best efforts of the most healthcare professionals.That is why –- in the interests of baffled coders and clinical documentation integrity specialists (CDISs) –- ICD10monitor and Talk Ten Tuesdays have invited Ronald Hirsch, MD, the permanent (and popular) panelist on Monitor Mondays, to provide his assessment of the code, while concurrently offering his list of do's and don'ts for its implementation, during the next live edition of Talk Ten Tuesdays.The live broadcast will also feature these other recognizable segments:• Social Determinants of Health: Tiffany Ferguson, CEO for Phoenix Medical Management, Inc., will report on the news happening at the intersection of medical record auditing and the social determinants of health (SDoH).• News Desk: Timothy Powell, CPA, will anchor the Talk Ten Tuesdays News Desk.• TalkBack: Erica Remer, MD, founder and president of Erica Remer, MD, Inc. and Talk Ten Tuesdays co-host, will report on a subject that has caught her attention during her popular segment.

“Sometimes you think, ‘Oh, these are just bladder patients; it's different.' But it might not be different. They still have a cancer diagnosis, this is still going to be a very fearful and unsettling time for that patient and their caregivers,” Tiffany Kurtz, MSN, RN, OCN®, manager of outpatient oncology at Summa Health Cancer Institute in Akron, OH, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, oncology clinical specialist at ONS. Kurtz discussed intravesical administration and oncology nurses' role in the treatment. You can earn free NCPD contact hours after listening to this episode and completing the evaluation linked below. Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 Earn 0.75 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at myoutcomes.ons.org by April 28, 2025. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of NCPD by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Learning outcome: The learner will report an increase in knowledge related to the nurse's role in intravesical medication administration. Episode Notes Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. Oncology Nursing Podcast episodes: Episode 209: Updates in Chemo PPE and Safe Handling Episode 197: Patient Learning Needs and Educational Assessments Episode 179: Learn How to Educate Patients During Immunotherapy Episode 114: Intravesicular Chemotherapy Considerations for Oncology Nurses Episode 87: What Are the Biggest Barriers to Patient Education? ONS courses: Fundamentals of Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Administration ONS/ONCC Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Certificate Course ONS/ONCC Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Certificate Renewal Course Safe Handling Basics ONS books: Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice (second edition) Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs (third edition) ONS Huddle Cards: Chemotherapy Immunotherapy ONS Learning Libraries: Cancer of the Genitourinary Tract Immuno-Oncology To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From Today's Episode “Intravesical administration is a localized or regional treatment. It's only going to affect the area of the body that the medication comes in contact with. So because it is administered in the bladder, the common side effects that we're going to see are going to be localized to the bladder.” Timestamp (TS) 02:09 “Oncology nurses that are trained in administering chemotherapy and, in particular, intravesical chemotherapy, should administer these treatments. At my institution, all outpatient oncology RNs must obtain their ONS chemotherapy and immunotherapy provider card. In addition, any new outpatient oncology nurses that get hired in review education specifically on bladder installation, the different anticancer agents that are used, and how to perform the procedure. And then they work with their preceptor and have to be checked off on a competency checklist as being competent before they can administer it independently.” TS 10:39 “It's always best to practice with a questioning attitude and put safety first. If something doesn't seem right, always check with the provider first.” TS 16:40 “It needs to be clear that it's not IV treatment, and it's sad to say, but we've had patients come into our infusion centers before and have no idea that they were getting a catheter placed. Like, no idea. And it's like, okay, there was definitely a communication breakdown or a lack of something.” TS 27:04 “Make sure you're assessing the patients and where they're at in their learning needs, and their education level, and what they can comprehend. Make sure that they understand; they need to know they're getting a urinary catheter into the bladder and not an IV. But of course, there's many other things they're going to need educating on.” TS 27:33

Prescott Fire has seen an increase in fires tied to lithium-ion batteries and shares a few safety tips to stay safe! Battery-based electric vehicles are the future, the increased use in vehicles, scooters, bikes, and other formats has made them a great option for mobility. As they have become more popular, the fire service across the nation has seen an increase in fire incidents associated with these vehicles and charging systems. The Prescott Fire Department has also seen an increase in the number of these fires due to the proliferation of electric vehicles including electric bikes and scooters. Damage or... For the written story, read here >> https://www.signalsaz.com/articles/tips-on-safe-handling-of-lithium-ion-batteries-from-prescott-fire/Follow the CAST11 Podcast Network on Facebook at: https://Facebook.com/CAST11AZFollow Cast11 Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/cast11_podcast_network

We deal with a lot of hazardous chemicals out on out route. Some are toxic, others are explosive. I go over tips on staying safe around different pool chemicals on your route.  Leslie's Pro: Pool Service Pro, open a Wholesale account today! Customer referrals, free cleaner repairs, free water testing, open 7-days a week. It is fast and easy to become a Leslie's Preferred Pool Care Provider. https://lesliespool.com/commercial-services.html/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=spll&utm_campaign=spll 

Hazardous drugs are not just used in oncology, and their health risks for providers go far beyond reproductive toxicities. ONS member MiKaela Olsen, DNP, APRN-CNS, AOCNS®, FAAN, clinical program director in oncology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Health System in Baltimore, MD, talks with Stephanie Jardine, BSN, RN, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, about protecting yourself and your colleagues with the latest updates in hazardous drug safety, including a change for the process of doffing personal protective equipment (PPE). Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at myoutcomes.ons.org by May 20, 2024. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of NCPD by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Episode Notes Check out these resources from today's episode: Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. ONS book: Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs (third edition) ONS book: Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice ONS/ONCC Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Certificate Course (where you'll find the PPE doffing video) ONS course: Fundamentals of Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Administration ONS course: Safe Handling Basics ONS joint position statement with the Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association: Ensuring Healthcare Worker Safety When Handling Hazardous Drugs ONS Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs Learning Library Consensus statements from the 2020 Safe to Touch Consensus Conference on Hazardous Drug Surface Contamination ONS video: Risk of handling hazardous drugs while pregnant ONS Voice article: What Is ONS's Stance on Handling Chemotherapy While Pregnant, Breastfeeding, or Trying to Conceive? National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) list of hazardous drugs USP Chapter 800: Hazardous Drugs—Handling in Healthcare Settings To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org.

We talk franchising as Khris is ready to launch the See Spot franchise. Khris's See Spot brand was established in 2012, driven by Khris' 33 years in pet services, including the grooming industry, her training as a canine behavioralist, and many years of offering grooming education and training industry-wide. She has a number of industry credentials and is an active advocate in trade associations focused on improving the professionalism of the grooming industry. Khris worked with the American Kennel Club (AKC) to develop their Safe Handling course for groomers, and she continues to teach the course periodically as well. Khris served as the Director of Grooming for the World Pet Association- a not for profit headquartered in the Los Angeles, California area- and worked tirelessly to develop and promote programs for groomer education and advancement all across the globe.

This Podcast is for educational purposes only not intended to treat cure diagnose or prevent sickness illness disease or mental health issues if you are making any lifestyle changes to your health and wellness routine for yourself and family consult with your medical doctor first. #USDA #Safegoodhandling #holistichealth #wellness #selfcare #alternativehealth #alternativehealing #holistichealing #alternativemedicine --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rdlc/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/rdlc/support

North American Ag's Chrissy Wozniak joins Dr. Jennifer Kauf and Dr. Adam Kauf of Livestock Trust and Caroline Zimmerman of Dry Creek Dairy in Martinsburg, PA to discuss safe livestock handling on dairy farms.Dry Creek Farm is a third generation family owned and operated dairy farm dedicated to providing safe and nutritious milk for consumers. Livestock Trust Institute is a place for safe keeping: animal-care and workforce workshops. They teach safety and efficiency through learning. Their workshop subjects range from animal handling/animal care, AI and medicine to parlor training, engineering and farm design.Visit https://northamericanag.com/livestocktrust or http://livestocktrust.com/​ to learn more.This episode is sponsored by KühlerZ, learn more at https://northamericanag.com/exhibitors/cow-kuhlerz or https://www.kuhlerz.com/.North American Ag Spotlight videos are meant to help producers, and those involved in agribusiness learn about the products, services, events and media that are available in our great agricultural industry.Brought to you by NorthAmericanAg.com and ChrissyWozniak.com. Visit us at https://northamericanag.com​​​​, and https://chrissywozniak.com​​​​.The Women in Agribusiness (WIA) Summit annually convenes over 800 of the country's female agribusiness decision-makers. The 2022 WIA Summit, September 26-28 in Dallas, TX includes presentations from Cargill's Corporate Senior Vice President, Animal Health & Nutrition, Ruth Kimmelshue; Marco Orioli, VP of Global Grain & Processing for EMEA, CHS; and Brooke Appleton of the NCGA. Learn more at https://agr.fyi/wia_register. FIRA USA 18-20 OCT. 2022 (FRESNO-CA): The only 3-day event dedicated to the California and North America market for autonomous agriculture and agricultural robotics solutions.Learn More at https://agr.fyi/fira

This Podcast is for educational purposes only not intended to treat cure diagnose or disease or mental health issues if you are making any lifestyle changes to your health and wellness routine for yourself and family consult with your medical doctor first. Today’s Topic Safe-Handling Techniques for Fruits & Vegetables #holistic #wellness #safefoodhandling #selfcare #bacteria #Crosscontaminationfood #foodBorneillnesses Reference foodsafety.gov --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rdlc/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/rdlc/support

ONS member Tammy Glover, MSN, RN, OCN®, nurse manager of home infusion at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia and member of the Bucks Montgomery Counties ONS Chapter, joins Stephanie Jardine, BSN, RN, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, to discuss best practices for home infusions and how oncology nurses can implement programs at their institution.  Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod  Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at myoutcomes.ons.org by February 12, 2023. The planners and faculty for this episode have no conflicts to disclose, and the episode has no commercial support. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.  Episode Notes  Check out these resources from today's episode:  Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.  Oncology Nursing Podcast Episode 53: Home Care Nursing for Patients With Cancer Oncology Nursing Podcast Episode 121: Home Infusion of Antineoplastics During COVID-19 ONS Voice article: No Place Like It: Home Care for Patients With Cancer ONS Voice article: Which Ambulatory Infusion Pump Is Best for 5-FU? ONS book: Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs (third edition) ONS Communities discussion on pumps ONS Communities discussion on securing port needles and tubing ONS position statement: Infusion of Antineoplastic Therapies in the Home

In this candid, fast-paced, fun and funny interview, Ford Reiche and I visit how things have gone in his latest chapter. Ford divested Safe Handling, Inc. 10+ years ago, and exited the day to day management of it immediately.

This episode is Part 2 of our cyber security series with Dominic Vogel. We talk: keeping your email safe, common cyber security myths, how the cyber risk landscape has changed as a result of COVID-19, how to handle the risks associated with having a remote workforce, creating a safe website for visitors, why stress puts us more at risk for cyber crime, and how employees can talk to management about cyber security.  Thank you to our guest, Dominic Vogel: https://www.cyber.sc  Cyber.SC LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cyber.sc/  Join The Small Business Mastermind's email list: https://www.olympiabenefits.com/podcast Learn how to reduce your healthcare costs: https://www.olympiabenefits.com  Thank you for listening!   *** Inspiring Corporate by Free Music | https://soundcloud.com/fm_freemusic Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

MiKaela Olsen, DNP, APRN-CNS, AOCNS, FAAN discusses how to safely handle hazardous drugs (HDs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics: *Basics of HDs: definition, exposure types, and adverse effects *Controlling and handling HDs *PPE guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic *Differences in PPE handling between HDs and infections  The post UPDATE 10/02/2020 – COVID-19 Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs appeared first on DKBmed Radio.

Not only are we in the midst of a pandemic but we need to start preparing for the 2020 hurricane season, which is predicted to be above average this year. Please join us as UF/IFAS Extension Agents, Taylor Clem, Martha Maddox, and Amanda Pittman discuss hurricane preparedness in your home. Topics will include safety, important documents, animals, and landscapes. Watch a recording of the podcast and webinar on our YouTube channel RESOURCES CDC Complete Care Plan Form: https://www.cdc.gov/aging/caregiving/... UF/IFAS EDIS Documents on Preparing for a Hurricane: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/topic_hurri... Safe Handling of Food and Water in a Hurricane or Related Disaster: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FS... Preparing and Storing an Emergency Safe Drinking Water Supply: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/SS... Hurricanes and the Resilient Landscape: https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/treesandhur... Facebook: UF IFAS Extension Alachua County Master Gardeners If you would like to reach out to any of the agents, feel free to send them an email or call our county extension office at (352)955-2402: https://directory.ifas.ufl.edu/search... Music Credit: Summer Night by LiQWYD --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/extensioncord/message

ONS member Clara Beaver, MSN, RN, AOCNS®, ACNS-BC, clinical nurse specialist at Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, MI, member of the ONS Metro Detroit Chapter, and secretary/treasurer for the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC) Board of Directors, joins Stephanie Jardine, BSN, RN, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, to discuss intravesicular chemotherapy, how it differs from other chemotherapy treatments, and safe handling recommendations that oncology nurses should be aware of. Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod  Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  Episode Notes Check out these resources from today's episode: Complete this evaluation for free nursing continuing professional development. ONS Communities discussion on intravesicular chemotherapy Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing article: Minimizing Staff Exposure to Antineoplastic Agents During Intravesical Therapy ONS book: Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice ONS/ONCC Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Certificate Course ONS/ONCC Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Certificate Renewal Course ONS Fundamentals of Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Administration Course ONS Voice article: How Oncology Nurses Support Non-Oncology Units Administering Chemotherapy ONS Voice article: What Are ONS's Recommendations for Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs?

Helpful COVID-19 Resources (listed alphabetically): AIUM Official Statement on Safe Handling and Use: https://www.aium.org/officialStatements/57 CDC COVID-19 Resource Center for Healthcare Professionals: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/index.html   FDA List N: Searchable List of Disinfectants for Use Against COVID-19: https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2-covid-19   OSHA COVID-19 Resource Center for Occupational Safety and Health Administration : https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/covid-19/index.html   SDMS COVID-19 Resource Center: https://www.sdms.org/news/2020/03/11/sdms-update-coronavirus-disease-2019-(covid-19) WHO COVID-19 Resource Center: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019   If you enjoy content like this, please follow Julie on social media for more educational content and updates on new episodes.  LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/julie-cardoso-uum Facebook: www.facebook.com/julie.cardoso.50552 Instagram: www.instagram.com/julie.at.uum Twitter: www.twitter.com/julie_uum

Safe handling of Gas Cylinders

In this episode, Greg sits down with Ford Reiche, co-founder of Safe Handling, Inc. Since selling Safe Handling, Ford has pursued historic preservation projects, including ownership and restoration of five buildings on the National Registry of Historic Places. He has received many awards for his leadership and in 2009 was named Mainebiz's Large Business Leader of the Year. Ford's preservation of the Halfway Rock Lighthouse was featured on the DIY Network and can be viewed here: https://www.diynetwork.com/shows/building-off-the-grid-maine-lighthouse/episodes/specials/building-off-the-grid-maine-lighthouse

ONS member Seth Eisenberg, RN, ADN, OCN®, BMTCN®, professional practice coordinator of infusion services at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance in Washington and member of the Puget Sound ONS Chapter, joins Chris Pirschel, ONS staff writer/producer, to discuss the important aspects of safe handling in oncology nursing, what the upcoming USP chapter launch will mean for practice, and how healthcare professionals can advocate for safety in their institutions. Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Episode Notes:  Check out these resources from today's episode: Complete this evaluation for free nursing continuing professional development. Handle With Care: How USP Will Affect Nursing Practice What Oncology Nurses Need to Know About USP Ensuring Healthcare Worker Safety When Handling Hazardous Drugs Episode 68: Empowering Healthcare Workers to Handle Hazardous Drugs Toolkit for Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs for Nurses in Oncology Hazardous Drug Exposures in Health Care Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association USP General Chapter Hazardous Drugs—Handling in Healthcare Settings

ONS member MiKaela Olsen, DNP, APRN-CNS, AOCNS®, FAAN, oncology and hematology clinical nurse specialist at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer and member of the Greater Baltimore ONS Chapter in Maryland, and Philip Schwieterman, PharmD, MHA, director of pediatrics and oncology pharmacy services at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy in Lexington, join Chris Pirschel, ONS staff writer, to discuss the new ONS and Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association joint position statement on safe handling for healthcare workers, how nurses and pharmacists can champion safety, and much more. Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Episode Notes:  Check out these resources from today's episode: Complete this evaluation for free nursing continuing professional development. Handle With Care: How USP Will Affect Nursing Practice USP Brings Change, Collaboration to Pharmacy and Nursing Ensuring Healthcare Worker Safety When Handling Hazardous Drugs ONS/ONCC Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Certificate Course Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs (third edition) Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs for Nurses in Oncology Toolkit Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association NIOSH List of Hazardous Drugs

FEDIMA and AMFEP are hosting a series of webinars that delve into the safe guidelines for workers in the baking industry who are exposed to dust from flour and enzymes.

FEDIMA and AMFEP are hosting a series of webinars that delve into the safe guidelines for workers in the baking industry who are exposed to dust from flour and enzymes.

Click here to take a quick survey: bit.ly/2E3hR5Q Click here for a written transcription of this episode: https://bit.ly/2Pu296p

ONS's Chelsea Backler, MSN, APRN, AGCNS-BC, AOCNS®, oncology clinical specialist and former home care nurse, joins Chris Pirschel, ONS staff writer, to discuss the intersection of oncology care and home care nursing, the role of home care nurses in caring for patients with cancer, and how oncology nurses can support their home care colleagues. Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 Episode Notes: Check out these resources from today's episode: Complete this evaluation for free nursing continuing professional development. Which Ambulatory Infusion Pump Is Best for 5-FU? Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs (Third Edition) Home Health Services—Medicare National Association for Home Care & Hospice

An interview with Dr. Paul Celano from the greater Baltimore Medical Center, lead author on "Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs: ASCO Standards." TRANSCRIPT The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement. Hello and welcome to the ASCO Guidelines podcast series. My name is Shannon McKernin. And today I'm interviewing Dr. Paul Celano from the greater Baltimore Medical Center, lead author on "Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs: ASCO Standards." Thank you for being here today, Dr. Celano. Thank you for having me. I'm certainly glad to talk about these standards. They're very important to our employees and our patients. So first I want to make the distinction that this publication is not a guideline like we usually cover on this podcast. So can you tell us what standards are and how they differ from guidelines? Well, guidelines really are intended to guide practitioners around recommended care options. They give obviously a lot of latitude to clinical judgment and circumstances. Standards, on the other hand, are really meant primarily for the organization of care and are intended to have a higher level of obligation to help drive either practice or policy or even legislative efforts. So that's really the distinction. And what are the standard statements that are made by ASCO in this publication? The publication really is about safe handling of hazardous drugs. This all came about is because recently there have been a number of national guidelines or standards that have been offered by other organizations, but not specifically oncology or certainly ASCO or the ASCO organization. We felt a need to address the standards that have been put out on the basis of the evidence, so that best practices can be offered. Initially, we did collaborate with other societies, such as the Oncology Nursing Society and the Hematology Oncology Pharmacy Association. That was really the impetus behind making sure that we are, in a sense, congruent with standards that are already being published and discussed, but also to also place in our interpretation of these standards so that they're based on the best evidence that's available. And what qualifying statements are there to note about these standards? Well, I think the best way to look at these standards is there has been recently published or offered what's been called the UST 800 standards, which really incorporate other previous standards by the Pharmacy Association as well as OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Association, as well as NIOSH, the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists, Oncology Nursing, etc. So there's a lot of standards that have been offered. And in fact, the ASCO review of this really in a sense agrees with many of the standards that have already been published and offered-- types of exposures, the responsibilities of personnel handling the drugs, the personal protective equipment, how we communicate the hazardous drugs, the training of compounding personnel, how the drugs are dispensed and even transported. So there's lots of things that we really do agree with. I think it's also important to understand that the objectives of this is really to protect personnel and the environment to make sure the standards apply to all personnel who compound hazardous drugs and preparations, all places where hazardous drugs are prepared and stored, transported and administered. So that's really a key part of this. These are a comprehensive program really to prevent worker environmental exposure and to provide the most practical safety environment for all involved. So finally, why are these standards so important? And how will they affect practice? Well, they effect practice in many ways. I mean, the key thing is making sure that our employees, meaning the nurses, pharmacy, the technicians, really everyone involved that they're not unduly exposed to these hazardous drugs. And so that's really the key thing that we're all trying to achieve by this. Now, what really makes the sort of ASCO standards somewhat different or the things that we came into a contention with has to do with the differences that ASCO has come up with in contrast to some of the other standards. And these have to do with really four main areas within these standards. They have to do with medical surveillance, external ventilation, closed system transfer devices, and also proper assignment of our personnel while they may have either trying to conceive or pregnant or nursing. So those areas that in our review, the ASCO review, have come under some question. As an example, medical surveillance, there in some of the standards offered-- not ASCO's-- that there's a number of medical surveillance procedures that have been elucidated, that really we find, number one, have really not any proven value for our employees and generate a lot of confusion in terms of how this process is supposed to be done. Obviously, if one of our employees has some undue exposure, such as a spill of chemotherapy or even just have flat out a concern, then obviously those things will be clearly investigated. But to have general medical surveillance of all employees, really we did not feel was of great value. But also further, we really feel that this is an area where more research needs to be done to better elucidate really what should this process look like and what value are we providing to our employees. Another aspect of this is the use of what are called closed system transfer devices. Currently, there are a number of these devices available that there is interestingly no standard way that these devices have been evaluated. And so it's hard to recommend one device over another, because there is no standards for which they're really being compared. And there certainly have been no studies looking at really any form of health outcome that really help us to direct this to how best to use these devices. And so really, a lot of these objections are more around let's do things in an evidence-based way so we can better know how to best direct our practices. Another area of concern in terms of ASCO standards have been the implementation of external ventilation in either containment secondary engineering controls or other situations. And the challenges is that HEPA filters are probably appropriate for collecting solid or aerosolized particles, but don't capture vaporized drugs. But there's little data available on the ability of hazardous drugs to vaporize within the workplace environment and what those hazards really are. And so again, it's is a call for more research to have an optimal environment for preparing these drugs and without having to place undue burdens in terms of external ventilation. Another area is options for alternative duties for workers who are actively trying to conceive or are pregnant or breastfeeding. And these we recognize can be special burdens to small practices looking to implement alternative duty programs. There is a lot of controversy regarding the potential level of risk that really these workers really have. And basically our stance has been that we should have a policy that identifies alternative work options for workers who are trying to conceive, are pregnant or are breastfeeding, and that this information needs to be conveyed to these employees at the time of their hire so they understand what their risks are and what their options are within the workplace. Again, trying to make sure everyone is well informed and aware of what the work environment they're in and as their life circumstances change what they can do to change with this. I think the key is that we all feel that this is an area that we should have continued research on. And our standard, certainly ASCO's standards will continue to evolve as more and more research and evidence becomes available. Thank you so much for taking the time to explain these standards to us today, Dr. Celano. You're welcome. And thank you to all of our listeners for tuning into the ASCO Guidelines podcast series. If you've enjoyed what you've heard today, please rate and review the podcast and refer the show to a colleague

The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement. Hello and welcome to the ASCO Guidelines podcast series. My name is Shannon McKernin. And today I'm interviewing Dr. Paul Celano from the greater Baltimore Medical Center, lead author on "Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs: ASCO Standards." Thank you for being here today, Dr. Celano. Thank you for having me. I'm certainly glad to talk about these standards. They're very important to our employees and our patients. So first I want to make the distinction that this publication is not a guideline like we usually cover on this podcast. So can you tell us what standards are and how they differ from guidelines? Well, guidelines really are intended to guide practitioners around recommended care options. They give obviously a lot of latitude to clinical judgment and circumstances. Standards, on the other hand, are really meant primarily for the organization of care and are intended to have a higher level of obligation to help drive either practice or policy or even legislative efforts. So that's really the distinction. And what are the standard statements that are made by ASCO in this publication? The publication really is about safe handling of hazardous drugs. This all came about is because recently there have been a number of national guidelines or standards that have been offered by other organizations, but not specifically oncology or certainly ASCO or the ASCO organization. We felt a need to address the standards that have been put out on the basis of the evidence, so that best practices can be offered. Initially, we did collaborate with other societies, such as the Oncology Nursing Society and the Hematology Oncology Pharmacy Association. That was really the impetus behind making sure that we are, in a sense, congruent with standards that are already being published and discussed, but also to also place in our interpretation of these standards so that they're based on the best evidence that's available. And what qualifying statements are there to note about these standards? Well, I think the best way to look at these standards is there has been recently published or offered what's been called the UST 800 standards, which really incorporate other previous standards by the Pharmacy Association as well as OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Association, as well as NIOSH, the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists, Oncology Nursing, etc. So there's a lot of standards that have been offered. And in fact, the ASCO review of this really in a sense agrees with many of the standards that have already been published and offered-- types of exposures, the responsibilities of personnel handling the drugs, the personal protective equipment, how we communicate the hazardous drugs, the training of compounding personnel, how the drugs are dispensed and even transported. So there's lots of things that we really do agree with. I think it's also important to understand that the objectives of this is really to protect personnel and the environment to make sure the standards apply to all personnel who compound hazardous drugs and preparations, all places where hazardous drugs are prepared and stored, transported and administered. So that's really a key part of this. These are a comprehensive program really to prevent worker environmental exposure and to provide the most practical safety environment for all involved. So finally, why are these standards so important? And how will they affect practice? Well, they effect practice in many ways. I mean, the key thing is making sure that our employees, meaning the nurses, pharmacy, the technicians, really everyone involved that they're not unduly exposed to these hazardous drugs. And so that's really the key thing that we're all trying to achieve by this. Now, what really makes the sort of ASCO standards somewhat different or the things that we came into a contention with has to do with the differences that ASCO has come up with in contrast to some of the other standards. And these have to do with really four main areas within these standards. They have to do with medical surveillance, external ventilation, closed system transfer devices, and also proper assignment of our personnel while they may have either trying to conceive or pregnant or nursing. So those areas that in our review, the ASCO review, have come under some question. As an example, medical surveillance, there in some of the standards offered-- not ASCO's-- that there's a number of medical surveillance procedures that have been elucidated, that really we find, number one, have really not any proven value for our employees and generate a lot of confusion in terms of how this process is supposed to be done. Obviously, if one of our employees has some undue exposure, such as a spill of chemotherapy or even just have flat out a concern, then obviously those things will be clearly investigated. But to have general medical surveillance of all employees, really we did not feel was of great value. But also further, we really feel that this is an area where more research needs to be done to better elucidate really what should this process look like and what value are we providing to our employees. Another aspect of this is the use of what are called closed system transfer devices. Currently, there are a number of these devices available that there is interestingly no standard way that these devices have been evaluated. And so it's hard to recommend one device over another, because there is no standards for which they're really being compared. And there certainly have been no studies looking at really any form of health outcome that really help us to direct this to how best to use these devices. And so really, a lot of these objections are more around let's do things in an evidence-based way so we can better know how to best direct our practices. Another area of concern in terms of ASCO standards have been the implementation of external ventilation in either containment secondary engineering controls or other situations. And the challenges is that HEPA filters are probably appropriate for collecting solid or aerosolized particles, but don't capture vaporized drugs. But there's little data available on the ability of hazardous drugs to vaporize within the workplace environment and what those hazards really are. And so again, it's is a call for more research to have an optimal environment for preparing these drugs and without having to place undue burdens in terms of external ventilation. Another area is options for alternative duties for workers who are actively trying to conceive or are pregnant or breastfeeding. And these we recognize can be special burdens to small practices looking to implement alternative duty programs. There is a lot of controversy regarding the potential level of risk that really these workers really have. And basically our stance has been that we should have a policy that identifies alternative work options for workers who are trying to conceive, are pregnant or are breastfeeding, and that this information needs to be conveyed to these employees at the time of their hire so they understand what their risks are and what their options are within the workplace. Again, trying to make sure everyone is well informed and aware of what the work environment they're in and as their life circumstances change what they can do to change with this. I think the key is that we all feel that this is an area that we should have continued research on. And our standard, certainly ASCO's standards will continue to evolve as more and more research and evidence becomes available. Thank you so much for taking the time to explain these standards to us today, Dr. Celano. You're welcome. And thank you to all of our listeners for tuning into the ASCO Guidelines podcast series. If you've enjoyed what you've heard today, please rate and review the podcast and refer the show to a colleague

Safe Handling of Raw Produce and Fresh-Squeezed Fruit and Vegetable Juices

Intalere welcomes you to this podcast focusing on safe handling of hazardous drugs. With us today is Joanne Beyer, Director of Clinical Services, Carmel Pharma, Inc., the maker of PhaSeal. Joanne will be talking with us today about the history and importance of safe handling of hazardous drugs in the workplace and how to effectively follow safety guidelines designed to protect those who handle and/or are around hazardous drugs every day.

Panel: Bill Lord, Environmental Agent, Franklin County; Stephen Greer, Horticultural Agent, Forsyth County; Linda Blue, Horticultural Agent, Buncombe County Features: Lucy Bradley, Urban Horticultural Specialist, NCSU, “Connecting Kids with Nature” Brenda Sutton, “The Produce Lady” “Safe Handling of Fresh Vegetables”

Panel: Bill Lord, Environmental Agent, Franklin County; Stephen Greer, Horticultural Agent, Forsyth County; Linda Blue, Horticultural Agent, Buncombe County Features: Lucy Bradley, Urban Horticultural Specialist, NCSU, “Connecting Kids with Nature” Brenda Sutton, “The Produce Lady” “Safe Handling of Fresh Vegetables”