Introduction: Several chemotherapeutic drugs are known to be teratogenic and mutagenic to humans. Nurses are the main group of health care workers that are exposed to these drugs during their work. Generally, the work activities that pose the greatest risk of exposure are the preparation and administration of antineoplastic drugs, and cleaning of chemotherapy spills. Aim of work: 1) To estimate the prevalence of hazardous effects to which nurses handling cytotoxic drugs (CDs) are exposed 2) To evaluate the current safety measures used in clinical practice and 3) To assess nurses' knowledge regarding cytotoxic Drugs.

Background: Blood transfusion services must be based on a national blood policy, including relevant legislation and regulations, which in turn must be an integral part of any national health policy. Objective: to assess the quality of services provided by healthcare workers in blood banks compared to national Egyptian standards. Material and Methods: Six hundred blood donation processes performed at the main blood banks of Eldmerdash and Elhussein university hospitals were observed using a structured checklist. Five percent of available registers were also assessed. Results: There was a blood donor questionnaire in Eldmerdash but not in Elhussein blood bank. Healthcare Workers in Eldmerdash blood bank were more adherent to quality standards concerning eligibility criteria of the donor. Healthcare workers in Eldmerdash performed medical examination and vital data measurement more frequently. Lymph node and skin examination, and routine pre-donation hemoglobin measurement were missed in both blood banks. Donors were not adequately informed about post blood donation instructions in Elhussein blood bank. No proper hand washing was done before donation and before or after clinical examination in both blood banks. There were limited resources for infection control in Elhussein compared to Eldmerdash blood bank. Basin, soap and antiseptics were not available in Elhussein blood bank. Conclusion: Quality standards concerning blood donation in Eldmerdash and Elhussein blood banks were partially fulfilled. However those standards were more fulfilled in Eldmerdash than Elhussein.