Chemotherapy

RE: Chemotherapy

Stuart Ford-Fennah — Mon, 12 Mar 2018 20:53:06 GMT

As RVNS we can administer chemotherapy medications as prescribed by the veterianry surgeon, however due to the risks involved in chemotherapy and potential hazards to health you should under the heath nad safety at woract have appropriate training. This will include awareness of the hazards, which sop to follow, awareness of the risk assessment etc etc as in line with the ACoP for hazardous substances. Unqualified nursing assistant are not veterinary nurses and there fore i dont think are covered under schedule 3 of the VSA and wont have any formal training to support the vet if anything did go wrong..

RE: Chemotherapy

enigmaticat-uk — Mon, 12 Mar 2018 17:31:16 GMT

Not trying to hijack this thread but just wanted to check with those in the know - is it OK for an RVN or an unqualified nursing assistant to administer chemotherapy drugs (eg vincristine i/v via catheter & cyclophosphamide PO as instructed by the vet). I've always been the restrainer for chemo so it's never cropped up as an issue but we have 2 out of 3 vets unable to handle chemo drugs currently and scheduling has been a bit of an issue this last month and want to make sure I'm not overstepping my remit by offering to help.

RE: Chemotherapy

Stuart Ford-Fennah — Mon, 12 Mar 2018 16:34:29 GMT

Hi Feezy,

Im pleased comments have helped.

The Chemotherapy article is in the March 2017 issue not March 2018 issue, also Lind Ryan is doing a practical workshop at BSAVA congress if your interested..

Stu

RE: Chemotherapy

Feezy — Mon, 12 Mar 2018 14:13:24 GMT

Thanks everyone for your brilliant advice and links! Didn't see the article in VNJ? Maybe next month?

RE: Chemotherapy

V E S — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 17:50:50 GMT

ohhhh good to know! :D

RE: Chemotherapy

Stuart Ford-Fennah — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 16:52:53 GMT

Totally agree, and Cave Veterinary Specialists do courier to Scotland in fact we courier even further :-) IM the clinical manger at Cave Veterinary Specialists and its not a push on something well sell but always happy to discuss requirements on the phone.

RE: Chemotherapy

V E S — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 13:46:27 GMT

As above!

I've worked as a medicine/oncology RVN for the past 2 years and have done many chemos in that time! We always wear the blue long sleeved gowns that have thumb loops and chemotherapy nitrile gloves. I would definitely wear masks with eye shields for anything SC such as cytarabine.

As Stuart has said, the PhaSeal system is really really good as it reduces the risks of spills or aerosols. I know you can order it from Cave Veterinary Specialists, but they might not post to scotland!

Patients don't need to be in isolation, but should be barrier nursed with chemo gowns/gloves when handling, particularly if you are handling their urine/faeces.

There's always great articles in the VNJ or The Veterinary Nurse journal so have a look at those :-)

RE: Chemotherapy

Stuart Ford-Fennah — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 21:46:41 GMT

Hi Feezy,

There are a few things to consider here, these are mainly focused around the HSE ACoP on handling cytotoxic materials (search in HSE website). But your right hirer are 'special gloves however these are essentially focused toward used in isolator cupboard for pharmacists working for extended periods of time. You can get nitrile gloves with break through time (Kimberley clark do a long cuff nitrile glove which have stated breakthrough times for many of the the cytotoxic drugs we use, medline have a similar produch much cheaper then the 'premium' berner gloves!) also you should have long sleeve gowns specified for chemo. You should also consider a true closed system such as the Phaseal system some systems are not completely closed and risk exposure as far as image Phaseal is the only completely closed pressure equalised system, with evidence to prove this, i cornily have confidence after 14 years of using it with (with quite a few> 1000) chemotherapy procedures.

Check out march 2017 issue of VNJ for my article on cytotoxic safety, call me at my practice (but not tomorrow as snowed in)

Best wishes,
Stuart

RE: Chemotherapy

Steph Worsley — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 18:47:20 GMT

You need special gloves which are thicker than normal gloves and you should be wearing long sleeve cuffed gowns that are chemoprotect. Check out Chemopet, it's run by a veterinary oncologist and oncology RVN (excellent people and friends of mine!) they have guidelines and downloads and you can purchase small quantities of the equipment (as well as patient prepared doses of meds) https://chemopet.co.uk/resources-downloads/

As far as barrier nursing goes you don't need to put them in isolation obviously just try to make sure they don't come into contact with infectious patients, and make sure you are wearing appropriate PPE when you are dealing with their bodily fluids!