Unbearable levels of stress, burnout, frustration, disappointment, and even fear are plaguing today’s healthcare providers more than ever before. But for oncology nurses, moral distress and compassion fatigue have always been in the background when caring for patients with a serious illness.
ONS member Christopher R. Friese, PhD, RN, AOCN®, FAAN, oncology nurse researcher and professor at the School of Nursing in the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, was named one of seven researchers and clinicians that President Joe Biden appointed to the National Cancer Advisory Board on September 15, 2021.
The Olympic Games are about inspiration: individual and team athletic achievement, well-earned medals from rigorous and lengthy training, and underdog stories of joyful winners. Many of those lessons learned during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics have meaning for us as nurses.
Bladder cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the United States, with an estimated 83,730 adult diagnoses in 2021. Smoking is the greatest risk factor (47% of all cases occur in smokers), followed by advancing age and sex (assigned males are four times more likely to develop bladder cancer than those assigned female). The incidence rate in White people is double that of Black people, but Black people are twice as likely to die from the disease.
Initially studied for its radioprotective effects on healthy cells, avasopasem may also increase cancer cells’ response to radiation treatment, researchers reported in Science Translational Medicine.
Evidence-based practice is dual sided: nurse scientists conduct research, and clinical nurses implement those findings into practice. Working together, they improve care by developing cancer survivorship programs, reducing cancer risk, and assessing cancer care in vulnerable populations. The University of Washington School of Nursing’s (UW SoN’s) partnership with Confluence Health, one of the largest healthcare providers in north central Washington, built a novel program to identify gaps in research and implementation and elicit projects that influence healthcare outcomes.
Most nurses have not received formal training in quality improvement (QI) methodology, and many workplaces lack the resources to efficiently implement evidence-based practice (EBP), which results in delays in translating science into practice. But ONS members are overcoming those barriers and leading the way in effectively developing, implementing, and sustaining practice changes.
During its August 24, 2021, monthly meeting, the ONS Board of Directors focused on reports from two of its subcommittees that support certain aspects of the Board’s work: one that develops and communicates ONS’s position on important topics, and the other that helps the Board grow as a group and individual leaders.
On October 1, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved brexucabtagene autoleucel (Tecartus™) for adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
In August 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) denied about 55,000 flavored e-cigarette products’ marketing applications for failing to provide evidence that they appropriately protect public health.