Learning Center
Hazardous Drug Handling: The Latest Evidence-Based Strategies [virtual]
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, over 8.5 million United States health care workers are potentially exposed to hazardous drugs annually, including antineoplastic drugs, which are increasingly used to treat nonmalignant conditions. Therefore, safe handling of these drugs is a critical issue. Exposed health care workers are at increased risk for adverse health effects, including nausea and vomiting, alopecia, damage to organs and organ systems, adverse birth outcomes, and even cancer. Evidence of health care worker exposure to hazardous drugs has increased since the 1970s, despite improvement in policies and practices. In this session, the current evidence-based recommendations for practice, with a focus on USP 800 and the 4th edition of Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs, published in 2024 by the Oncology Nursing Society, will be discussed.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, learners will be able to:
• Review the health risks for nurses associated with handling hazardous drugs and the types of drugs that have hazardous potential
• Describe at least 3 national standards for the safe handling of hazardous drugs
• Identify barriers to nursing compliance with safe handling standards and strategies to overcome these barriers
Contact Hours: 1
CRNI® RUs: 2
MiKaela M. Olsen, DNP, APRN-CNS, AOCNS®, FAAN
Clinical Program Director for Oncology
Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Johns Hopkins Health System
MiKaela M. Olsen, DNP, APRN-CNS, AOCNS®, FAAN, serves as the Clinical Program Director for Oncology at Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Johns Hopkins Health System. In this role, she partners with oncology nurse leaders, physician leaders, and frontline clinical staff to advance best practices and ensure seamless coordination of care across the health system. She also works closely with oncology service line leadership to align core competencies and harmonize standards of care throughout the Johns Hopkins Cancer service line.
Dr Olsen holds academic appointments as Adjunct Faculty at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and Faculty Associate at the University of Maryland School of Nursing.
She co-chairs the Johns Hopkins Health System Venous Access Device Committees and the central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) Reduction Committee. Additionally, she is the lead editor of the Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice, 2nd Edition (2023) and the Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs, 4th Edition (2024). Dr Olsen is the co-chair of the American Society of Clinical Oncology/Oncology Nursing Society (ASCO ONS) Antineoplastic Administration Standards (2025). Her scholarship includes numerous publications and presentations on the safe handling of hazardous drugs and the occupational risks faced by health care workers, antineoplastic drug administration and side effect management, central vascular access devices, and prevention of infection.
As an instructor and consultant, Dr Olsen has shared her expertise internationally, traveling to Singapore, the UAE, China, Bulgaria, and Japan to strengthen nursing education in oncology and to raise global awareness of hazardous drug exposure risks and safe handling practices.
