Factors Related to Non-compliance with Personal Protection Standards (PPE) When Preparing and Working with Chemotherapy Drugs

Chemotherapy drugs that are used to treat cancer patients are classified as hazardous medicines, which require standard guidelines to work with because of their adverse effects on staff. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors related to non-compliance with personal protective equipment standards in nursing personnel.

This study is a cross-sectional study that collected data from 73 nurses of specialty oncology hospitals in Isfahan who were in contact with chemotherapy drugs. Data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire based on the standard guidelines of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and the American Association of Health System Pharmacists and Occupational Health and Safety Administration. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 20 and descriptive and analytical tests were performed.

The results of this study showed that from the personnel's viewpoint, the highest reason for not adhering to the standards of protective equipment use in the personnel working in chemotherapy departments related to not having sufficient protective equipment (87.7%) and the least reason for not adhering to the protective standards was lack of trust. And lack of awareness of standards related to the use of protective equipment (11%).

According to the present study, managers should equip the facilities of chemotherapy departments, reduce the working hours of staff, hold training courses for chemotherapy nurses to increase their awareness and develop guidelines that require staff to comply with standards of protective equipment use. And constant monitoring of compliance with these standards seems necessary.