NIOSH (US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) updates its list of hazardous drugs periodically to reflect new findings and ensure workplace safety standards. In 2024, NIOSH revised its list of hazardous drugs to enhance workplace safety and protect healthcare professionals from potential health risks associated with handling these substances. Here's what you need to know.

As healthcare systems continue to emphasize safety and efficiency, CSTDs have become essential for reducing the risk of exposure to hazardous drugs, particularly in chemotherapy preparation and administration. These devices play a key role in protecting both healthcare workers and patients. Looking ahead to 2025, advances in CSTD technologies will further enhance safety standards and address emerging challenges in drug handling. Here are the key trends to watch.

Evidence suggests that using CSTDs as part of regular work practice can reduce or eliminate occupational exposure to hazardous drugs. In fact, research supports the consistent use of CSTDs in combination with standardized cleaning procedures to reduce exposure to hazardous drug surface contamination in treatment settings.

CSTDs protect healthcare professionals from potential costly healthcare issues by reducing occupational exposure to hazardous drugs. In addition, CSTDs deliver economic benefits by reducing wasted medication through drug vial optimization and by extending beyond use dating.

Healthcare providers are continuously challenged to provide safe and accurate chemotherapy preparations. Automated chemotherapy systems empower pharmacists and technicians with tools to improve the compounding process by making it shorter and more reliable, and by reducing the occurrence of medication misidentification and dosage quantity errors.

Veterinarians routinely face the risk of direct exposure to hazardous drugs. This can occur when treating house pets or large animals with veterinary pharmaceuticals, including antineoplastic and other hazardous drugs. Exposure can occur at all stages of treatment from compounding to administration as well as disposing of drug residue. Chemfort^® CSTD products provide safety by minimizing the exposure of veterinarians, veterinary staff, and animal owners to hazardous drugs.

There's no question that healthcare wouldn't be the same without nurses. In the field of oncology, nurses play a vital role in caring for patients and their families. Cancer care in the COVID-19 era has presented oncology nurses with even more challenges, and healthcare will only continue to evolve in new ways after the pandemic. Here are a few trends in oncology nursing that are here to stay.

Healthcare professionals such as pharmacists, oncology nurses and veterinarians need to protect themselves when they work or come into contact with hazardous drugs. Closed-system drug-transfer devices (CSTDs) help healthcare professional reduce the risk of this occupational exposure. Working with a CSTD requires medical professionals to understand how these innovative systems works. Consider some common questions about CSTDs.

Hospital administrators have a key role in overseeing the organizational side of hospitals and medical facilities. Hospital administrators must ensure that their facility is using the most efficient and effective practices to provide optimal healthcare. Lean management principles are five steps that hospital administrators can use to improve workplace efficiency. These steps create a framework for efficient workflow.

Healthcare professionals must sometimes deliver patient treatments that include hazardous drugs such as monoclonal antibodies and chemotherapy medications. These drugs can save patient lives, but can also affect the health status of others. Drug leaks also put patients, healthcare professionals and the environment at risk through potential exposure.

Hazardous drug exposure can cause dire health effects for nurses and other healthcare workers—including fertility problems, miscarriages, and cancer. Research shows that in Europe and in the US, exposure to toxic drugs happens to more than 20 million healthcare workers every year, and over 7 million of them are nurses. Fortunately, closed administration systems provide an effective solution to the risks nurses face every day.

When it comes to engineering controls, CSTDs are an integral part of the CDC's recommendations for reducing occupational risk. According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), CSTDs should be used throughout the entire process of compounding and administrating hazardous drugs.