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.
Joe is a 54-year-old man with metastatic colorectal cancer who has been receiving treatment at the cancer center for the past three years. The cancer center has a stage II trial, which is investigating nintedanib plus capecitabine for patients with refractory colorectal cancer. What would you do?
Infused cancer drugs that are dosed according to patient weight are often available only in single-size vials. Many patients need only part of a second or third vial, and the remaining drug must be discarded. According to researchers, for the top 20 infused cancer drugs in the United States, this amounts to throwing away $1.8 billion in wasted medication.
From March 6—8, 2016, I had the amazing opportunity to take part in the Nurses in Washington Internship (NIWI). NIWI is a program in which nurses from different disciplines come together from all over the country to discuss and receive healthcare policy and advocacy training.
The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) will host a second Director’s Lecture on Thursday, May 5, highlighting one of the nation’s top nurse researcher. Held at the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Lipsett Amphitheater, ONS member Marie Nolan, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN will present “Reframing Shared Decision Making at the End of Life.”
In response to a growing concern about opioid use, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a warning in March about prescription pain medications. The agency issued new guidelines for labeling to highlight risks associated with the use of certain drugs, including opioids.
Pain management is becoming a national priority in healthcare. In 2010, the National Institute of Health worked with the Health and Medicine Division on a study “to increase the recognition of pain as a significant public health problem in the United States.”
Annual cancer deaths have decreased, according to the latest report from the National Cancer Institute on the United States’ cancer status. From 2003—2012, overall rates for men, women, and children from infancy to age 19 have fallen by as much as 2%.
The National Academies of Sciences has created a new podcast on the subject of end-of-life care. The series will deal with palliative care, patient-provider communication, and coordinated care.
Discover all the happenings on Capitol Hill and how ONS continues to advocate for oncology nurses in the national healthcare arena.
