Table 3.
Specific Recommendations for Patients and Their Caregivers: Dos and Don'ts
| Dos for Oral Chemotherapy | Don'ts for Oral Chemotherapy |
|---|---|
| On receiving your prescription, review the package label, specifically checking medication name and dosage.27 | Leave medication in open areas, near sources of water, direct sunlight, or where they can be accessed by children or pets. |
| Ensure that you completely understand when and how to take the medication and ask questions if there is any confusion. | Store medications in the areas where food or drinks are stored or consumed. |
| Transport and store medicine as instructed and as outlined in the packaging label.27 | Crush, break, or chew tablets. |
| Use gloves if possible and wash hands thoroughly before and after glove application.* If gloves are not worn, tip tablets and capsules from their container/blister pack directly into a disposable medicine cup. | Double-up on doses, unless instructed by a health care professional. |
| Administer the medication as instructed. | Share prescriptions or medication. |
| Keep a journal of adverse effects. Make a list of adverse effects for which the health care professional has to be contacted immediately. | Assume that oral chemotherapy is safer than intravenous chemotherapy. |
| Consider using adherence devices. Use separate devices for cytotoxic and noncytotoxic agents. | Skip doses unless instructed by your physician. |
| Report any overdosing immediately. | Discard medication down the toilet or in the garbage. |
| Keep information ready for necessary action in the event of accidental exposure (including emesis and accidental ingestion).23,27 | |
| Return wet, damaged, unused, discontinued, or expired medications to the pharmacist or hospital for disposal.27 | |
| Report all medications (prescription and nonprescription as well as complementary and alternative medicines) and any specific dietary requirements to the health care provider/prescriber, at the time of assessment and consultation. Inform other health care professionals that you are on oral chemotherapy (eg, surgeons and dentists).42,43,45 | |
| Minimize the number of individuals coming in contact with the cytotoxic medications.27 | |
| Wash the patient's clothes and bed linen separately from other items.12,18* | |
| Double-flush the toilet after use, during use of and 4 to 7 d after discontinuing oral chemotherapy.12,18 |
*
It is recommended that caregivers wear gloves at all times while handling oral chemotherapeutic agents as well as contaminated items in order to minimize risk of exposure.