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Interprofessional Issues

Novel, Interprofessional Approach Enhances Bed Assignments for Individuals on Antineoplastic Drugs in a Hospital Setting

August 22, 2024

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Nurse Empowerment

How AI Can Support Oncology Nurses’ Spirit of Inquiry

August 15, 2024

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Nurse Empowerment

Sharing Our Stories Supports, Celebrates, and Advances the Nursing Profession

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Nurse Well-Being

When Health Care Is Woven in Our Family Fabric, We Find Support in Unexpected Places

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Care Coordination

Help Your Patients Find Financial Resources

The financial burden associated with cancer treatment is reaching new heights. In the heat of making decisions, patients and their families may drastically deplete their finances to reap the advantage a new drug may offer.

January 03, 2017

Nurse Well-Being

Balance Perfectionism and Self-Compassion With a Meditation Exercise

Practicing self-care and compassion is an important part of well-being. One barrier to self-compassion is the pursuit of perfectionism. Logically, perfectionism is unreachable; however, research shows that many people base their self-esteem on achieving perfectionism and being flawless.

November 01, 2016

Clinical Practice

The Case of the Targeted Therapy Misperception

Jessica is preparing discharge teaching for Marty, a 63-year-old woman with stage IIIB high-grade serous ovarian cancer. During the discussion, Marty asks Jessica why such harsh treatment is being recommended when targeted therapies can kill cancer without destroying the immune system and causing any severe side effects.

September 20, 2016

Advance Care Planning

The Case of the Decision-Making Dilemma

Daniel is a 55-year-old male diagnosed with stage III nasopharyngeal cancer. He lives with Jon, his partner of 4 years. One day, he is taken by ambulance to the ED where it is determined he had an ischemic stroke. He has no advanced directives or living relatives. What would you do?

Clinical Practice

The Psychological Benefits of Cancer Prehabilitation

Cancer prehabilitation is a whole-person approach to quality cancer care. Along with potential physical gains, patients who participate in cancer prehabilitation (interventions started prior to cancer therapies) may also benefit emotionally and socially. The Case of the Deconditioned Patient focused on the physical benefits Frank experienced as a result of attending prehabilitation before he had surgery for lung cancer. Frank’s psychological gains were no less impressive.

Clinical Practice

The Case of the Deconditioned Patient

Frank, a 74-year-old man, was referred to the oncology clinic for workup on a suspicious lung nodule. Frank tells Justin, the oncology nurse, that he blames himself for smoking “all these years.” He also reports that up until nine months ago, he played 18 holes of golf twice a week, but “now I just don’t have the stamina.”

Clinical Practice

Seven Simple Strategies Addressing Health Literacy

I was more than a bit nervous to make the call. After all, she was a biology professor and knew more about life on a cellular level than I could possibly fathom. She had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. And I was calling to educate her?

Oncology Health Literacy

The Impact of Health Literacy on Safety and Quality

A person with adequate health literacy has the ability to access, understand, and act on health-related information. Safety and quality can suffer when a person is limited in any one of these components.

Oncology Nursing Roles

The Significance of Being an Oncology Nurse

I recently read the book Service Fanatics by Jame Merlino, MD, Chief Experience Officer (CXO) at Cleveland Clinic. Merlino’s role focuses on “putting patients at the center of everything we do.” This concept isn’t new to oncology nurses. I daresay the people we care for are always our focus. Their vulnerability reminds us of our own, and we feel it's a privilege to be part of their journey.

Cancer Research

How Academic Research Guides Community Cancer Center Practice

Although the approach may be different, academic institutions and community-based centers have the same goal: improving the lives of people with cancer. So what happens when academia meets community in a joint effort to promote this important purpose? ONS member and researcher Frances Lee-Lin, PhD, RN, OCN®, CNS, has first-hand experience.

Care Coordination

The Case of the Troubling Transport

During orientation, Justine learns that women scheduled for a hookwire procedure are transported to the mammography suite located across the parking area of the hospital building. Patients are being taken through the public waiting area during the transport. She knows this is a patient privacy violation, but her supervisor tells her, “This is the way we've always done it.”

Cancer Healthcare Advocacy

President Addresses Precision Medicine at White House Summit

“You can match a blood transfusion to a blood type...what if matching a cancer cure to our genetic code was just as easy, just as standard? What if figuring out the right dose of medicine was as simple as taking our temperature?”

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

What You Wear Matters When It Comes to Safety

“Hey, you didn’t dress up for me today. Where’s your pretty blue dress?”

At first I wasn’t sure what the patient in the chemotherapy chair was talking about. After a moment, I realized the patient was referring to the blue safety gowns we wear. I heard the infusion nurse respond as she removed the chemotherapy from the hazard bag, “Oh yeah, I’m kind of in a hurry today.”

While the patient could possibly benefit from the chemotherapy, for the nurse that same drug posed a serious hazard.

February 14, 2016

Creating a Culture of Change for Safety

Change is constant. Change is challenging. Some changes, like the five rights of medication administration, surgical timeouts, and clinical pathways, are compulsory. Changes are often identified when something fails. A traffic light becomes a permanent fixture at an intersection where accidents or a loss of life happen. A new protocol is enacted when a fatal error occurs. Awareness drives change and safety initiatives in health care.

February 09, 2016

Oncology Clinical Trials

Research Helps Guide Shared Decision Making in Cancer Clinical Trials

At the onset, patients diagnosed with cancer can feel a loss of control. Research has shown that when patients and providers participate in shared decision making (SDM), both parties find greater satisfaction in the overall decision and adherence to the treatment plan improves.

February 02, 2016

Care Coordination

The Case of the Looming Medical Bankruptcy

Marcie, age 34, comes to the outpatient infusion center to receive her final cycle of chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. Jared, one of the infusion nurses, notices that Marcie appears unusually withdrawn. When questioned, she tearfully explains that she and her husband are considering bankruptcy.

January 19, 2016

Nurse Well-Being

In the New Year: Do-Over or Do Different?

At the start of a new year, people often make resolutions about what they’ll do differently during the next 365 days. Perhaps you, the oncology nurse, are in this place of pondering, self-examination, or you’re just reviewing the past year in general. Here’s some food for thought.

January 01, 2016

Clinical Practice

Rhythms of the Night Shift

The humming of the florescent lights in the quiet of the night shift on the bone marrow transplant unit at Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center in Denver, CO, doesn’t bother ONS member Pam Richardson, BSN, RN, OCN^®, at all; in fact, she hardly notices it.

December 01, 2015

Clinical Practice

Crush Constipation With This Old-Time Recipe

Constipation is no fun for anyone, but for patients with cancer this all-too-common side effect is especially troublesome. Oncology nurses need to know how to advise patients when they bring up this somewhat uncomfortable subject.

Nurse Well-Being

Reduce Stress and Free Up Brain Power by Using This One Incredibly Easy Process

The incredibly easy process of making a task list may be something you already do, both in your work and personal life, but lists deserve a quick review of why they are so effective and how they free up working memory—which ultimately reduces stress and improves patient care and workplace interactions.

September 15, 2014

Nurse Empowerment

Are You Masquerading as a Confident Oncology Nurse?

Do you ever feel like an imposter, masquerading as a confident oncology nurse? If you do, you’re not alone and could be suffering from the imposter phenomenon.

Clinical Practice

What Is the Most Important Thing to Teach Patients About Infection Prevention?

During chemotherapy education, I tell new patients to treat themselves like a newborn. After each cycle of chemotherapy, the immune system, like that of a new infant, is beginning anew.

Oncology Clinical Trials

Better Understand Oncology Clinical Trial Data With This Quick Reference Guide

Oncology clinical trial results form the backbone of oncology medicine. How well do you understand the tables, plots, and statistics generated as a result of clinical research? During the recent ONS Congress, many presenters displayed new study data using charts with naturalistic names, such as waterfall, skyline, forest, and spider plots.

Clinical Practice

What Is Your Level of Genetic and Genomic Competence?

As a child, I was fascinated by Gregor Mendel’s experiments with peas. In those days, dominate or recessive genes were touted as being responsible for eye color and other genetic characteristics passed from parent to offspring. Today we know so much more.

February 07, 2014

Clinical Practice

Make Time for Healthy Eating With These Helpful Tips

It doesn’t take any longer to eat healthy food, but it does take extra planning and time to prepare healthy meals. Over the years I have come up with some time-saving tips and tools that I think you will appreciate.

January 30, 2014

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To discuss the information in this article with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities.

To report a content error, inaccuracy, or typo, email pubONSVoice@ons.org.

Deborah Christensen MSN, APRN, AOCNS®

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