As a certified hospice and palliative care nurse, I was grateful to see the joint response from three nursing organizations that embraced the challenges presented in the IOM report, "Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life," and discussed how palliative nursing can address the key recommendations.
Derek is a 20-year-old patient with relapsed acute myeloid leukemia. He will be receiving a bone marrow transplant in the next six days. When discussing Derek’s home medications, he says to the nurse, “I smoke a lot of pot because it helps me feel better about all of this.” Upon further discussion, Derek reveals he started smoking marijuana to relieve nausea. What would you do?
As the use of oral oncolytics has increased in cancer care, so has the amount of time oncology nurses spend educating and counseling patients and caregivers on their use. Studies have shown that although it’s challenging for nurses to carve out, the time is well spent.
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.
On September 10, 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved enzalutamide for the treatment of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
The FDA approved two new immunomodulatory agents, sipuleucel-T and ipilimumab, in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Sipuleucel-T was approved to treat metastatic prostate cancer, and ipilimumab was approved for advanced or metastatic melanoma.
The importance of regular exercise and a healthy diet to maintain a healthy weight should not be underestimated. Healthy habits often need to be fostered. They need to be automatic and practiced consistently. The earlier they are developed, the bigger the benefits.
Since the concepts of inheritance, genetics, and medical genetics were introduced, researchers have found that many factors other than the presence or absence of a single gene predict disease.
Being caught in the act is typically a shameful experience, but in this case, action was celebrated and non-action was a cause for alarm.
Although I’ll soon be representing the CNS role, I still have trouble defining it, especially to my patients. This problem isn't unique to me, and it’s hurting the profession as a whole.
