Mayiri

Yes, on our unit we also have a year's experience before we go to the 2-day course. So, I guess their idea is like your educator's, in that we'll take care of patients who have had this chemo before, and now we take care of them going through the side effects, so our familiarity builds up, but non-certified nurses don't usually have pts currently receiving chemo during their stay; they're assigned to chemo-certified nurses. So, novice nurses aren't always exposed to actual chemo administration often, like it seems your educator does to you. Thanks for your reply.

Hi. I'm curious as to how other facilities train their new chemo certified nurses. I have noticed that at mine, after the two day ONS course, they sign you off three times on a checklist and boom, that's it, you can double check chemo with any other chemo nurse and hang it. I've noticed that the new nurses don't feel safe since they don't know the pharmacology of what they're giving, in the sense that you know how Protonix, Levaquin, Neupogen, etc work. So, how do other hospitals and units train new nurses? Do you get a few days in an OP setting, if available, where you see drug after drug and the cancer it treats? I'd think that'd help nurses become familiar. Any other ideas? I'd greatly appreciate any input.