Immunotherapy Administration: Oncology Nursing Society Recommendations

As the use of immunotherapeutic agents increases in single-agent and multimodality treatment regimens, oncology nurses face the challenge of administering and caring for patients receiving new and unique agents. Oncology Nursing Society clinical staff and clinical nurses collaborated to produce a set of recommendations to educate nurses involved with the monitoring of patients receiving immunotherapy on administration procedures and safe handling of these agents to ensure patient and staff safety and to reduce risk of error. The recommendations are meant to provide clinical nurses with a framework on which to build policies and procedures for administering new treatment modalities.

AT A GLANCE

• Clinical nurses require fundamental knowledge of immunotherapy classes to safely and effectively care for patients receiving immunotherapeutic agents.
• Administration of immunotherapeutic agents should include safety procedures such as independent verification of drugs and doses prior to administration.
• Drug-specific considerations should be applied when determining the safe-handling needs of practices caring for patients receiving immunotherapy.