Table 1.

Criteria for Developing Final Standards

Final standards should comply with the following criteria

Applicable to diverse organizations providing outpatient chemotherapy to adult cancer patients

Focused on patient safety

Focused on site policies and procedures, and the process of planning for and administering chemotherapy, rather than facility/physical plant characteristics

Apply to each outpatient site administering chemotherapy, unless otherwise specified

Address parenteral and oral chemotherapy regimens

Appropriate for use for internal and external safety monitoring

Compliance with standards, as written, should be measurable

Standard language should be clear enough to ensure reliable, consistent interpretation among users and sites

Final standards in each component should include at least one focused on patient/caregiver teaching

NOTE. This set of criteria should be used in group deliberation to guide and focus discussion concerning the statements in each component of the standards.