Hospital Decontamination What Nurses Need to Know

Incidents involving the release of hazardous materials challenge medical providers with safely, quickly, and correctly removing contaminants from the victim. While doing so, the safety of the first receiver, current patients, bystanders, as well as the victim all have to be considered. Key challenges with hospital decontamination include, but are not limited to, selection of team members, training protocols, employee turnover, and funding. Best practices, based on the available literature and evidence, include administration buy-in and support; strong policy and procedure documentation; equipment maintenance programs; and team member recruitment, retention, and education.