Lack of social connections has the health implication equivalency of smoking 15 cigarettes per day, whereas maintaining a strong social community can increase odds of survival by 50%, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA, said in a 2023 report.
Given their work and involvement in an individual’s cancer journey, oncology nurses can help motivate and influence patients. Sometimes this motivation leads to particularly special circumstances. Whether you consider it a moment of luck or a chance of fate, everything can fall into place. That was the case for ONS member Robert Zamora, RN, OCN®, a retired oncology and stem cell transplant nurse living in San Antonio, TX, when Linda Hart-Garrahan was put under his care in fall 2015.
In a June 2023 online health panel discussion, current Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and former HHS Secretaries Alex Azar and Kathleen Sebelius spoke to the advocacy community about leading one of the largest federal agencies in the world. They praised the job, people, and cause and highlighted some of the agency’s notable achievements during their respective tenures.
Oncology nurses are particularly vulnerable to the increasing violent incidents in the healthcare workplace, and it might be because of their specialty. “Oncology settings possess baseline patient and family stressors that may have been more pronounced during the pandemic,” researchers reported in the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, such as social isolation, inadequate resources, and health misinformation, among others.
Anthony is a 60-year-old patient who was diagnosed with localized prostate cancer at age 59. His family history is positive for prostate cancer, with his father diagnosed at age 69. Following radical prostatectomy surgery, a prostate-specific membrane antigen positron-emission tomography/computed tomography reveals boney metastatic lesions in multiple ribs.
Just as people of various ages have different cancer care needs and priorities, how a nurse communicates with patients of various ages should differ, too. For instance, communication for pediatric patients predominantly involves parents, whereas adolescents and young adults (AYAs) may require alternate approaches to meet their communication needs. Personalizing your communication for each age group ensures effective and meaningful communication that has the potential to reduce the inherent uncertainty in cancer care and enhance survivors’ quality of life.
On December 15, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved enfortumab vedotin-ejfv (Padcev®) in combination with pembrolizumab (Keytruda®) for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer (la/mUC). FDA previously granted the combination accelerated approval for patients with la/mUC who are ineligible for cisplatin-containing chemotherapy.
On December 15, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a public update about its work to strengthen safety requirements and consumer communication about risks surrounding breast implants. Through the following actions, FDA said it intended to support patient-provider discussions and shared decision-making for breast implants.
White House officials will take more time to review a sweeping plan from U.S. health regulators to ban menthol cigarettes, an unexpected delay that antitobacco groups fear could scuttle the long-awaited rule. Administration officials indicated Wednesday the process will continue into next year, targeting March to implement the rule, according to an updated regulatory agenda posted online. Previously, the rule was widely expected to be published in late 2023 or early January.
The winter holidays are marked with traditions. Although we may most often think about them in terms of family or community, celebrating traditions with our colleagues helps build feelings of community and may contribute to a positive work culture, both essential to our well-being as oncology nurse.