Elaboration of a nursing care protocol for hematological patients: an experience report

Abstract

This article reports on the experience of the group of nurses working at the hematology hospitalization unit of the University Hospital Walter Cantídio (HUWC), located in Fortaleza-CE, Brazil, in view of the elaboration of a care protocol for patients with hematological alterations. Using workshops, the group elaborated four standard operational procedures that attempted to describe the following aspects of nursing care: patient admission; puncture, heparinization and dressing of the fully implanted catheter; administration of chemotherapeutic agents and conduct in case of extravasation; discarding of cytotoxic residues. During the work, the following needs were identified: adapting the staff dimensioning and the number of equipments that permit safe chemotherapeutic agent administration; elaborating an advisory manual for the patients’ discharge; searching for new critical points in the work processes and periodically reconsidering existing protocols; seeking partnerships to elaborate discarding protocols for cytotoxic residue and chemotherapeutic agent extravasations. The group believes that the use of protocols offers a more qualified practice and increasingly more effective and humanized care delivery to patients.