An APRN’s Clinical Guide to Medical Marijuana

More and more patients with cancer are asking their healthcare providers whether medical marijuana can help them manage symptoms and side effects. Advanced practice RNs (APRNs) must be prepared to educate patients and assess their eligibility for therapeutic cannabis.

Guidelines Help APRNs Navigate the Law and the Science for Medical Marijuana

Research and regulations regarding medical marijuana are constantly evolving. Advanced practice RNs (APRNs) caring for patients who may use cannabis need a knowledge base and guidance for practice. During her session on April 29, 2021, for the 46th Annual ONS Congress™, Kathleen Russell, JD, MN, RN, associate director of nursing regulation at the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), reviewed key points from NCSBN’s Guidelines for the Nursing Care of Patients Using Marijuana that are particularly relevant to oncology APRNs.

Time in Nature Is Time Well Spent

Time in Nature Is Time Well Spent

“Nature alone cures,” Florence Nightingale instructed her fellow nurses in Notes on Nursing—and we’ve continued to follow that principle, creating a healing environment for our patients that involves fresh air and sunlight. That same environment can promote health in nurses as well.

Gut Microbiome May Be a Factor With Immunotherapy Resistance in Advanced Melanoma

Gut Microbiome May Be a Factor With Immunotherapy Resistance in Advanced Melanoma

Altering a patient's gut microbiome through fecal transplant improved response to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in 40% of patients with advanced melanoma who initially did not respond to the immunotherapy in a small, single-arm clinical trial. Researchers reported the findings in Science.

Radiation Oncology Nurses Must Innovate and Transform in Today’s Workplace

In a highly technical environment, radiation oncology nurses’ role on the interprofessional team is both critical and flourishing. But it’s also ever-evolving, speakers explained during a session on April 27, 2021, for the 46th Annual ONS Congress™.

10 Tools to Build Engagement and Learning in Your Professional Development Program

Even before the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic’s push to virtual in almost every aspect of society, the trend away from traditional lecture-style learning and toward more interactive learning was well underway. The approach helps busy learners better understand, retain, and apply concepts in fast-paced and ever-changing environments, such as the field of oncology, Renee Davis, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, from ProDevo Design and Consulting, said on April 27, 2021, during a session for the 46th Annual ONS Congress™.

How to Overcome Underrepresentation in Oncology Clinical Trials and Research Studies

For the findings to be usable, healthcare research clinical trials must accrue participants that accurately represent the general population to which the study applies. But that’s easier said than done. During a session on April 27, 2021, for the 46th Annual ONS Congress™, two oncology nurse scientists shared strategies that other researchers can use to overcome disparities in clinical trial study populations.

What We Learned When Adjusting Protocols to Conduct Remote Oncology Research

When the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic pushed oncology research to a remote, virtual format, the sudden adjustment was, in many ways, more convenient and more effective, but it also posed several challenges. During a presentation on April 27, 2021, for the 46th Annual ONS Congress™, two nurse researchers shared the lessons they learned when they adjusted their research protocols. 

As Oncology Research Pivots in Pandemic, Here’s How to Maintain Consent and Ethics

As health care has made countless adaptations to forge on during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, oncology nurse researchers haven’t escaped the effects. During a session on April 27, 2021, for the 46th Annual ONS Congress™, Kathleen Calzone, PhD, RN, AGN-BC, FAAN, and Donna Berry, PhD, RN, AOCN®, FAAN, outlined specific ways researchers have pivoted with virtual approaches to continue their important work.

Radiopharmaceuticals Pack a One-Two Punch Against Cancer

Radionuclides, also called radioisotopes, are unstable chemical elements that release radiation as they break down, and that action can be combined with cancer drugs to fight tumors with a new punch. During a session on April 27, 2021, for the 46th Annual ONS Congress, Pam Grubbs, APRN, CNS, MS, AOCNS®, of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, discussed how oncology is using radiopharmaceuticals in a variety of ways.