INTRODUCTION
Activity growth in cancer services at Northern Health resulted in significantly increased demand for inpatient chemotherapy administration. A constraint to continued service growth was identified as the low proportion of inpatient RNs, trained to administer chemotherapy treatments or provide associated care. As at June 2014, only 22% of RNs working within the inpatient oncology/haematology unit at Northern Health were ‘chemo competent’.
AIM
• To identify and implement a high quality, standardised training and assessment program to prepare nurses to safely administer antineoplastic drugs at Northern Health.
• To increase the capacity of the inpatient unit to provide chemotherapy by increasing the proportion of nursing staff trained to administer cytotoxic and anticancer agents.
METHOD
The Antineoplastic Drug Administration Course (ADAC) was implemented at Northern Health for any nurse whose role included the administration of chemotherapy. The program comprises 8 online learning modules, followed by a full day workshop, consolidating knowledge into practice. The ADAC provides clear competency guidelines to ensure standardised, best-practice performance in the administration of antineoplastic chemotherapy.
NEMICS provided funding via a Professional Development grant, to support the training of 13 nurses, over a 6 month period. The funding was used to enable each inpatient oncology/haematology nurse to work 10 supernumerary shifts in Day Oncology in order to complete ADAC assessment requirements.
RESULTS
In the period July 2014 – January 2015, 13 inpatient oncology/haematology nurses completed the ADAC program. As a result, there has been a significant increase in the capacity of the inpatient unit to provide chemotherapy administration at Northern Health. At the time of writing, 63% of inpatient oncology/haematology RNs are competent to administer chemotherapy and provide appropriate associated care.
CONCLUSION
The implementation of ADAC at Northern Health has resulted in a highly skilled, consistent oncology nurse workforce.