Congress Abstracts 2003

71

CARING FOR OUTPATIENTS RECEIVING RADIOLABELED PHARMACEUTICAL AGENTS: GUIDELINES AND EDUCATIONAL TOOLS. Elizabeth Anderson, RN, BSN, Duke University Cancer Center, Durham, NC; and Donna Adams, RN, BSN, OCN^®, and Traci Foster, RN, OCN^®, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC.

Radiolabeled pharmaceutical agents are increasingly being investigated as a therapy for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Many of these patients spend little time with radiation therapy staff and leave the hospital or clinic immediately following therapy. In most cases, individuals with the greatest exposure to radiation will be the outpatient nurse and the patient’s family, both of whom may have limited knowledge of radiation safety. This poster will provide educational tools and guidelines for nurses to enable them to provide care to outpatients being treated with radiolabeled pharmaceutical agents. It also has information on safety issues that nurses and patients must know specific to outpatient therapy.

The authors found that regulatory standards and the literature review provide instruction to the nurse who works in the inpatient setting. However, little information has been developed for oncology or clinical trials nurses in the outpatient setting. It is important that nurses who assist in the administration of radiolabeled agents receive education about safety parameters that should be incorporated into practice as well as foster development of patient education materials. The authors developed a policy that incorporated care specific to the outpatient arena, provided education to the nursing staff, and identified patient education resources.

In preparing the policy and education information, the authors used the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and State Agencies regulations as resources. A key consideration in caring for these patients is how to monitor radiation exposure. The outpatient or clinical trials nurse must wear a personal radiation monitoring device (film badge). However, the family and patient do not. Thus, patient and family education is essential. The radiation safety division staff is an excellent partner for nurses, patients, and families.

Given the advances in cancer treatment, it is likely that outpatient therapies with radiolabeled nucleotides will increase. This poster gives a comprehensive display of how one organization prepared staff and patients to manage this therapy.