Desperate need of advice

[Soneshine]

Hi! I'm a new oncology nurse. I'm in desperate need of advice on being new in this area. Anything really would help!

I'm worried about of giving chemo- and having a shorter training period than previously thought. During the interview, they made it sound like I would be trained for a few months before hanging chemo. Now, a few days into my training, they are talking as though they'd like me to start hanging chemo in the next few weeks. I haven't gone through the necessary chemo training courses yet....

Thanks

[pattyweb]

I'm a new grad on an oncology/med surg unit, and we aren't allowed to take the chemo class until we've had our license for at least 6 months. We can't hang chemo until we've had several times hanging chemo with another RN. You might check your state's chemo regulations.

[globalRN]

the critical decisionmaking process and the clinical assessment skills necessary to know when:

not to give the chemo or

to delay or

to provide a revised version of the chemo due

should be developed and honed before you give or cosign for chemo administration.

usually you will have some sort of knowledge and skill testing before you work with chemo

[GrumpyRN63, ADN, RN]

The new grads on my unit work about a year, minimum ,before taking chemo classes, and then work 1:1 with a chemo nurse on first learning the whole admission, lab checking, orderset, meds, the whole gamut, they are not alone. they also get support from the CNS