Background The safe and standard handling of antineoplastic drugs can reduce the effects of occupational exposure and promote safe behaviors in nurses. Thus, the present study aimed to determine the effects ofstandard guidelines education on the safe handling of antineoplastic drugs among oncologynurses in Ardabil, Iran. Methods Thequasi-experimental study with a one-group pretest-posttest design was performed among 32 nursesworking in the oncology wards of two educational hospitals in Ardabil city, during 2020. Allthe nurses in the wards who met the inclusion criteria participated in the study. The data were collectedby usinga demographic information form and nurses’knowledge assessment questionnaire regardingthe standard guidelines for working with antineoplastic drugs, and a standard checklist for examiningtheir performance in this regard. Subsequently, they were analyzed by descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (t-test)and Pearson’s correlation coefficient) in SPSS 22. Results The mean and standard deviation of the knowledge and performance scores of the oncology nurses was59.56±6.41and 18.96±2.54 respectively, which changed to 66±4.82 and 32.03±2.45 respectively three months after training. The results of the t-test represented a statistically significant difference between the level of knowledge and performance before and after the intervention (P=0.001). Conclusions Based on the results, the standard guidelines education improved the nurses’ knowledge and performance on the safe handling of antineoplastic drugs in the chemotherapy wards. Therefore, it is advised to increase the awareness of the oncology nurses in this regard in the planning and policy-making ofhealthcare centers.

Multiple myeloma is a hematologic malignancy and a subtype of plasma cell dyscrasias, which accounts for 13% of all hematologic malignancies. It mainly affects older adults and is diagnosed in only 2% of the young population under the age of 40 years. This report presents a 33-year-old man diagnosed with Multiple myeloma with 4 poor prognostic specifications consisting of amplification of the 1q21, Translocation of t(4;14), deletion of the 6q21 and 13q14, along with decreased chromosome count to 44, X,-Y. Even though the combination of 4 poor prognostic cytogenetics in young patients is rare, he responded significantly to the Bortezomib regimen. He was selected as a candidate for bone marrow transplantation. The treatments get interrupted 2 days after the first session of the fifth cycle due to an undesirable COVID-19 infection. After 20 days, the symptoms return, and paraclinical findings show signs of MM relapse.

BACKGROUND: Infection with COVID-19 has resulted in considerable mortality all around the world. This study aimed to investigate the effect of convalescent plasma on the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Imam Khomeini Hospital at Ardabil, Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this quasi-experimental clinical trial, patients over 18 years of age with polymerase chain reaction-positive COVID-19 were admitted based on the clinical criteria of respiratory distress with hypoxia (O 2 saturation <90) and tachypnea (R Relative Risk (RR) >24) with moderate-to-severe lung involvement and in the 1 st week of respiratory disease who were not intubated were nonrandomly assigned to two groups: convalescent plasma therapy (CPT) group (197 cases) and control group (200 cases). We used the Chi-square, t-test, Fisher's exact test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Analyses revealed that length of stay in hospital was significantly lower in the CPT group as compared to the control group ( P = 0.001). Twenty-four cases (22.0%) in the CPT group and 85 cases (78.0%) in the control group needed intubation. Furthermore, mortality was 17 cases (18.3%) in the CPT group and 76 cases (81.7%) in the control group, the difference of which was also found to be statistically significant ( P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: It seems that CPT can be used as an alternative treatment at the early stages of COVID-19 to prevent the progress of the disease, reduce the need for intubation and consequently the length of stay in hospital, and finally, decrease mortality.

Background: The safe, principled, and standard handling of anticancer drugs can reduce the effects of occupational exposure and promote safe behaviors in nurses. Thus, the present study aimed to determine the effects of standard guidelines education on the safe handling of anti-neoplasm drugs among oncology nurses in Ardabil, Iran.Methods: The quasi-experimental study with one-group pretest-posttest design was performed among 32 nurses employed in the oncology wards of two educational hospitals in Ardabil city, during 2020. All of the nurses in the wards who met the inclusion criteria participated in the study. The data were collected by using a demographic information form and nurses' knowledge assessment questionnaire regarding the standard guidelines for working with antineoplastic drugs, and a standard checklist for examining their performance in this regard. Then, they were analyzed through descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (t-test and Pearson's correlation coefficient) in SPSS 22.Results: The mean and standard deviation of the knowledge and performance scores of the oncology nurses was respectively determined 59.56±6.41 and 18.96±2.54, which changed to 66±4.82 and 32.03±2.45 three months after training. The results of t-test represented a statistically significant difference between the level of knowledge and performance before and after the intervention (P=0.001).Conclusions: Based on the results, the standard guidelines education improved the nurses' knowledge and performance on the safe handling of anticancer drugs in the chemotherapy wards. Therefore, it is suggested to pay attention to the promotion of the oncology nurses' awareness in the planning and policy-making of healthcare centers.

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