Cancer Medications: In a Nutshell (Nursing)

00:01 So let's sum up what we've discussed.

00:03 Cancer cells are like bullies.

00:06 They don't follow the rules, they're high growth without boundaries, they go where they're not supposed to and they metastasize.

00:12 That's what going where you're not supposed to means.

00:16 Hair, GI, skin, reproductive and bone marrow are the five areas of high growth fraction cells that used to be healthy that get attacked by chemotherapy.

00:27 Remember when it hits that bone marrow -white cells, platelets and red blood cells usually in that order, the white cells take the biggest hit, then the platelets, then the red cells are the main areas that get it with chemotherapy.

00:40 So patients who are receiving chemotherapy are also at risk for some other ugly thing besides those five areas.

00:47 Organs can be damaged particularly kidneys or the heart.

00:51 Tissue can be damaged if that chemotherapy for some reason leaks out of the vessel it's being infused into.

00:58 Or they can even develop another cancer because some chemotherapies can be carcinogenic Nurses who administer chemotherapy have to take steps to protect themselves from exposure to the chemotherapeutic drugs If you should happen to spill true chemotherapy, it's considered a biohazard.

01:18 You can't just mop that up with a paper towel or a rag and move along.

01:23 That has to be filed and treated as a true biohazard spill.

01:27 So just stop for a minute and think about it.

01:29 Nurses often have to administer chemotherapy with all these garb on and yet we approach our patients and main line it right in the blood vessel for them So don't lose sight of how overwhelming this experience for patients may be when they receive chemotherapy and for their families.