A multimodal nursing education intervention using ONS resources, didactic teaching, and small group discussions grew one institution’s advance care planning (ACP) documentation rates from 0% to 63%, according to a report published in the February 2023 issue of the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing. Nurse participants also reported increases in ACP discussions and a clinically significant improvement in their overall comfort level with ACP conversations.
The close of the Oncology Nursing Society’s annual business meeting on April 29, 2023, during its 48th Annual ONS Congress®, also marks an opening—it’s the moment the 2023–2024 ONS Board of Directors officially takes office.
Patient navigation services must increase breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening for disadvantaged racial and ethnic populations and people with lower incomes, the Community Preventive Services Task Force recommended. Patient navigation services, coupled with timely and appropriate follow-up care and treatment, could improve health equity for these groups, in some cases reducing cancer mortality and incidence, the task force added.
Meaningful communication involves more than just words traded between people. By asking open-ended questions, affirming a person’s strengths, offering reflections, and providing a summary of the conversation, you can engage others in meaningful conversation.
On April 3, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to enfortumab vedotin-ejfv (Padcev®) with pembrolizumab (Keytruda®) for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who are ineligible for cisplatin-containing chemotherapy.
Taking into consideration the history of HIV/AIDS and upholding COVID-19–related guidelines, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed adjusting blood donor eligibility from time-based deferrals to assessing donor eligibility using gender-inclusive, individual risk-based questions to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted HIV.
Opioids are the recommended treatment of choice for cancer pain at the end of life according to all major guidelines, but Black and Hispanic patients are 13% and 11% less likely than their White counterparts, respectively, to obtain prescription opioids for cancer-related pain at the end of life, researchers reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Deanna Fournier, a cancer survivor, and Eli Diamond, MD, a neuro-oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY, discussed Fournier’s cancer journey and the progress toward a better patient experience during a National Cancer Institute Office of Cancer Survivorship lecture. Communicating with patients throughout their cancer journey can help healthcare providers, including oncology nurses, support patients and advocate for their unique needs.
Advance care planning (ACP) is an integral part of treatment planning that supports patients at any age or stage of health in understanding and sharing their personal values, life goals, and preferences regarding future medical care. ACP is individualized to each patient’s unique circumstances, with more support and specific decision-making provided as the planning progresses. It’s particularly important for patients with cancer, but communication challenges can delay ACP initiation.
Almost 22 years after the September 11, 2001, atacks, the World Trade Center Health Program has added all types of uterine cancer to its list of WTC-related health conditions. The WTC Health Program assists patients with treatment costs for uterine cancers that meet WTC-related health condition eligibility and certification requirements.