5 November, 2025
by Audrey O’Halloran, Lead Cancer Nurse, HOPe Directorate, St James’s Hospital, Dublin
Award Recognition and Project Overview
Audrey O’Halloran, Lead Cancer Nurse, HOPe Directorate has been awarded the President’s Prize by the Irish Association for Nurses in Oncology (IANO) for a project focused on occupational safety for cancer care nurses. The project involved surface wipe sampling for hazardous drugs within haematology and oncology settings, aiming to assess environmental contamination and promote safer handling practices.
The award includes a funded bursary for a week-long placement at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, scheduled for February 2026. This placement will provide an opportunity to observe international best practices in cancer nursing care at a leading global institution.
The requirement for an optimal occupational safety environment for cancer care nurses, is of critical importance. Over 200 systemic anti-cancer treatments are classed as hazardous drugs and the toxicity of these drugs have been well documented for decades. These hazardous drugs make occupational exposure a serious issue for cancer care nurses and other healthcare workers, which is linked to adverse health effects. Environmental surface contamination with hazardous drugs has been reported in several recent research papers and internationally surface wipe sampling has been recommended to be performed routinely. Audrey is committed to the occupational safety of cancer nurses and healthcare workers who are working with hazardous drugs that are utilised for life saving cancer treatments for patients. Leading on this occupational safety project in our cancer care directorate, we have gained valuable data on surfaces contaminated with hazardous drugs.
Acknowledgement is extended to colleagues Kate Rankin, Katie O’Neill, Rosa Clarito, Jane Murphy, and the members of the SACT Safe Handling Committee at St James’s Hospital for their essential contributions and support throughout the project.