Earlier this month, I found this picture of my grandmother from 1918. She must have sent it to her sister, because on the back of the photo was scrawled a message: “I thought you might want a snap to see me in my nursing uniform.” This is like a selfie from nearly a hundred years ago. Although the sign behind her says, “Don’t park here,” that’s exactly what she’s doing. The humor was not lost.
Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Tip O’Neill was fond of saying, “All politics is local.” What he meant was, if an elected official took care of the constituents back home, then whatever happened in Washington, DC, wouldn’t matter as much. Whatever issues most affected voters in the legislative district, then that is where members of Congress should spend their time.
A new study testing a dendritic cell vaccine for the first time in humans to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has shown that it successfully amplifies the immune system to boost the effectiveness of anti-PD-1 immunotherapies against the cancer. The findings were published in Clinical Cancer Research.
Phil is a 63-year-old man who is admitted to the inpatient oncology unit for severe pain resulting from metastatic small cell lung cancer. His wife and two daughters are at his bedside. Earlier in the day, the medical oncologist discussed additional treatment options or hospice care. Phil decided on comfort care with the hope of getting his pain managed and going home on hospice.
Nursing isn’t always just about treating illness. At times, patients are unruly, combative, and even downright dangerous to staff. Nurses are the ones standing front and center when an upset patient erupts, and it happens more often than the uninitiated public may think. A recent article in the Washington Post, catalogs some of the harrowing violence nurses have seen in the line of duty, dubbing it one of the most dangerous professions in the United States.
On September 14, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a lower dose of cabazitaxel (20 mg/m2 every 3 weeks) in combination with prednisone for the treatment of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer previously treated with a docetaxel-containing treatment regimen. Cabazitaxel (25 mg/m2 every 3 weeks) was approved for this indication in 2010.
On September 14, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to copanlisib for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed follicular lymphoma who have received at least two prior systemic therapies.
On September 14, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Mvasi (bevacizumab-awwb, Amgen Inc.) as a biosimilar to Avastin (bevacizumab, Genentech Inc.). Mvasi is the first biosimilar approved in the U.S. for the treatment of cancer.
Until the 1980s, the value of exercise was unrecognized in the oncology setting. It was widely believed that patients with cancer undergoing cytotoxic treatments needed to rest and avoid exercise. But a 1989 study conducted by Winningham and Mac Vicar, both oncology nurses at the Ohio State University, dispelled this notion. The trial involved 45 women receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for operable breast cancer and showed that a 10-week interval-based, aerobic exercise was not only safe but also significantly improved body composition, aerobic capacity, and patient-reported nausea.
As an oncology clinical nurse specialist (CNS), you may find yourself answering over and over the question of, “What is it you do?” In many instances, it is a broader role then most may realize, and you wear several hats. As you explain to other oncology staff what a CNS does, focus on the three spheres of influence.