Knowledge And Practice On The Safe Handling Of Cytotoxic Drugs Among Nurses Working In Tertiary Hospital, Nepal

Background: The increasing trend of cancer embark the need for the extensive use of cytotoxic drugs(CDs) for the treatment of the disease. The nursing personnel are the one who are directly involved in handling and administration of cytotoxic drugs. So they need to have adequate knowledge and skill about handling of cytotoxic drugs. Any kind of negligence may lead to adverse consequence on patients, staff and environment. Thus, the aim of this study is to assess the knowledge and practice of safe handling of CDs among nurses. Materials and Methods: The descriptive cross-sectional study was done among 309 nurses working in different units of Patan Hospital, Nepal. The convenience sampling technique was used to choose the sample and collect data. Data was collected by using structured self-administered questionnaire in English. The practice regarding cytotoxic drugs questionnaire was required only for those nurses who have been involved in handling of cytotoxic drugs which was clearly mentioned in tool. Results: The result shows the mean age of nurses were 31.74±6.65 years with, the mean duration of experience in years was 9.66±6.85. The total of 55.7% had average level of knowledge with only 33% were involved in handling of cytotoxic drugs. Among the nurses involved in handling, 59.8% had average level of practice. Conclusion: Most of the nurses possess average knowledge and practice regarding sage handling of CDs. However, study also reflect the findings that the nurses does not apply knowledge while practicing the handling of cytotoxic drugs.