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Oncology

Helping to protect cancer nurses from exposure to hazardous drugs

23 September 2021
Meeting Report
02 September 2021
Volume 30 · Issue 17

Abstract

Freelance medical writer Christine Clark (chris@salt.u-net.com) reports on an online meeting held in April 2021 on protecting nursing staff working in oncology from exposure to hazardous drugs

On 29 April 2021 Aesculap Academia (the educational arm of B. Braun Medical) held a second webinar to discuss the results of research into the use of closed system transfer devices and the wider issues concerning the risks for nurses of occupational exposure to hazardous drugs. The first webinar was held on 25 November 2020 and was reported in a previous BJN oncology supplement (Clark, 2020). An audience of 180 participants from around the world attended an interactive webinar to learn more about cancer nurses' risks of exposure to hazardous drugs.

Introducing the meeting, Mark Foulkes (President Elect, UK Oncology Nursing Society (UKONS), Nurse Consultant and Lead Cancer Nurse, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust) said that the speakers represented a wide range of experience and opinions about protecting nurses from the risks of exposure to hazardous drugs and this should help to formulate some conclusions about what could now be done in practice.

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