Chemo without pumps???? A little long

Hi
I'm so glad you're leaving this situation.
NO ONE should be giving Chemo without being Certified; That said, YOU SHOULD ABSOLUTELY NOT BE MIXING
any Chemo.
You were in a VERY damgerous situation at that place.
Again, I'm very relieved to hear that you left!!
I KNOW all about Hem/Onc -- I have worked here more then 25 yrs. We do so much checking with various peoples.

This is unsafe, in the clinic I work in we have a policy that no nurse works alone, there is always another oncology nurse working. We cannot put one drop of chemo in a patien without another onc nurse checking the order, dose, calculation and then co signs (two initials required) in the med book. We do mix our own chemo under the hood with gloves and chemo gowns. Also if ther is an emergency/reaction you should have more than one nurse to help! Call the MD, get the oxygen, emergency meds/equipt and someone needs to be tending to the other patients!! what if there happens to be more than one reaction at a time? It's happened were I work.
We use pumps for most everything but on a very busy day we may be short pumps, so things like 30 minute gemzar or carbo can be titrated and run according to the drip rate on the tubing-eye balling frequently of course. How the heck do you run rituxan w/o a pump??? Listen to your instincts as a nurse-you are right.

I too am grateful you are out of this situation. However dont feel that all oncology is bad. We have wonderful patients and it is a very rewarding field to work in. That is, if it is a safe situation.

What a disservice to the patients. I wonder if they are aware of how unsafe the situation is. One nurse can only do so much. . . I sometimes get overwhelmed with 2 RNs plus a tech mixing chemo in our clinic when we have a busy day. So glad you left. I LOVE oncology and the patients are wonderful and complicated and they deserve excellent care-- meaning safe staff ratios and lots of safety measures like double/triple checking orders, use of IV pumps, etc. Reminded I'm blessed at my job (even when it's frustrating or overwhelming!). Hope that clinic get's its act together for the sake of the patients (and nurses!).

Hi- I think you know what you need to do..always follow you're instincts...