The HMP Safety Podcast: Episode 4 with Professor Karen Campbell Immediate Past President Of UK Oncology Nursing Society
The SHBN is delighted to share that the fourth episode of the HMP Safety Podcast is now live: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5X9GGYsWcmYgEjkpdFVgj0
In this episode, Dr Paul Robert, podcast host and chair of the SHBN, is joined by Professor Karen Campbell, Immediate Past President of the UK Oncology Nursing Society and Macmillan Associate Professor in Cancer Nursing.
Professor Karen Campbell has a long career in cancer nursing across a range of specialisms, including haematology, genetic counselling and palliative care. She began her career delivering chemotherapy to patients in the 1990s, before closed-system transfer devices existed. Professor Campbell watched safety practice evolve and, in places, stall. She is currently a Macmillan Associate Professor in Cancer Nursing at Edinburgh Napier University and immediate past president of the UK Oncology Nursing Society (UKONS), which she joined in 2017.
In the fourth episode of the HMP Safety Podcast series, Dr Paul Robert and Professor Campbell discuss the UK-wide research into occupational exposure to hazardous medicinal products that she led at Edinburgh Napier University. Professor Campbell explains how the study came about after an earlier systematic review found too little UK-specific evidence on closed system transfer devices, and how her team combined a national survey with 32 in-depth interviews with oncology nurses across all four UK nations. She shares some of the study’s most striking findings, including that only 44% of nurses used closed system transfer devices consistently, whilst 30% never used them.
Dr Robert and Professor Campbell also discuss the gap between organisations that protect staff well and those that fall short, the UK’s reliance on thin plastic aprons rather than fuller protective gowns, and why she believes nurses need to understand they’re protected by health and safety law.
The HMP Safety Podcast is a new series produced and released by the SHBN, as part of the wider HMP Safety Campaign. You can find out more about the campaign and how to get involved here.
Each episode explores a different aspect of HMP safety, from the evidence behind occupational exposure to the policy gaps holding back reform to the frontline experiences of those handling these substances every day. Further episodes covering a range of topics around HMP exposure and safety will be released in the coming months on Spotify.
