Neuroinvasive Infection in Immunocompromised Hosts: Epidemiologic Investigation of 5 Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Background: is a ubiquitous gram-positive rod-shaped bacterium that can cause sepsis and neuroinvasive disease in patients with acute leukemia or neutropenia.

Methods: A single-center retrospective review was conducted to evaluate patients with acute leukemia, positive blood or cerebrospinal fluid test results for , and abnormal neuroradiographic findings between January 2018 and October 2022. Infection control practices were observed, environmental samples obtained, a dietary case-control study completed, and whole genome sequencing performed on environmental and clinical isolates.

Measuring Advanced Practice Provider Productivity at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's Member Institutions.

Introduction: The utilization of advanced practice providers (APPs) in oncology has been growing over the last decade; however, there is no standard method for assessing an APP's contributions to oncology care.

Methods: The NCCN Best Practices Committee (BPC) created an APP Workgroup to develop recommendations to support the roles of APPs at NCCN Member Institutions. The Workgroup conducted surveys to understand how NCCN centers measure productivity.

Development and Implementation of an Oncology Clinical Research Nursing Residency Program for Newly Licensed Nurses.

A paucity of nurses trained in clinical research prompted the development and implementation of a newly licensed nurse residency program in oncology research. The components of the program, funding, curriculum development, preceptor model, and partnerships, are described. Formal evaluation to quantify success in creating a pipeline for the future, increasing retention, and reducing costs is underway and will be reported in a future publication.

Psychosocial distress is dynamic across the spectrum of cancer care and requires longitudinal screening for patient-centered care.

Purpose: Screening for cancer-related psychosocial distress is recommended for patients with cancer; however, data on the long-term prevalence of distress and its natural history in survivors are scarce, preventing recommendations for screening frequency and duration. We sought to evaluate longitudinal distress in cancer patients.

Methods: We evaluated longitudinal distress screening data for patients with cancer treated or surveilled at our institution from 2010 to 2018.

A Study of Advanced Practice Provider Staffing Models and Professional Development Opportunities at National Comprehensive Cancer Network Member Institutions.

Introduction: The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Best Practices Committee created an Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Workgroup to develop recommendations to support APP roles at NCCN Member Institutions.

Methods: The Workgroup conducted three surveys to understand APP program structure, staffing models, and professional development opportunities at NCCN Member Institutions.

Results: The total number of new and follow-up visits a 1.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Psychiatric Emergency Service Volume and Hospital Admissions.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been an increasing number of emergency department visits for behavioral health reasons, even as overall emergency department volumes have decreased. The impact of the pandemic and related public health interventions on specialized psychiatric emergency services has not been described. These services provide high-intensity care for severely ill patients who are likely to be homeless and underserved.

The Dual Epidemics of 2020: Nursing Leaders' Reflections in the Context of Whole Person/Whole Systems.

The Greater Boston Nursing Collective, a consortium composed of university nursing deans and chief nursing officers within academic medical centers and specialty hospitals in Boston, Massachusetts, was formed in 2014. Since the group's inception, our mission has been to create and reinforce whole-person/whole-system healing environments to improve the health of all communities. Through our collaboration in navigating the dual epidemics of COVID-19 and structural racism within our respective organizations, and across the United States and the world, we share experiences and lessons learned.

Fixed-dose combination of pertuzumab and trastuzumab for subcutaneous injection in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer: A multidisciplinary approach.

Pertuzumab plus trastuzumab, administered intravenously (IV) with chemotherapy, is standard treatment for HER2-positive metastatic or high-risk early breast cancer. Pertuzumab and trastuzumab are administered over 1-2.5 h traditionally; however, the need for IV infusions places a strain on medical centers with respect to scheduling, preparation, and administration.

Intravenous haloperidol: A systematic review of side effects and recommendations for clinical use.

Introduction: Though not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, intravenous haloperidol (IVH) is widely used off-label to manage agitation and psychosis in patients with delirium in the hospital setting. Over the years, concerns have emerged regarding side effects of IVH, particularly its potential to cause QT prolongation, torsades de pointes (TdP), extrapyramidal symptoms and catatonia.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review of literature of published literature related to side effects of IVH in PubMed in accordance with PRISMA guidelines.

Components of an Effective Professional Development Strategy: The Professional Practice Model, Peer Feedback, Mentorship, Sponsorship, and Succession Planning.

Objectives: To review components of an effective professional development strategy in the oncology setting that includes mentorship, sponsorship, and succession planning.

Data Sources: OvidSP, practice standards, professional guidelines, and websites.

Conclusions: There are compelling reasons why oncology nurses in all settings are required to remain current in their area of practice and use strategies that take advantage of available opportunities for professional development.

The nurse coordinator role: fulfillment of the nursing profession's compact with society.

The implementation of a new role in healthcare teams frequently emanates from emerging or changing needs in the care delivery system or expressed needs of clinicians, patients or caregivers. In this commentary on the experience of the nurse coordinator role in Israel we suggest based on similar experiences in the United States, that effective implementation is accomplished when the functions of the role are well delineated with respect to other members of the team and informed by the needs of patients, their caregivers and clinicians. The outcomes expected from those performing the role should be established and measured over time.

The impact of wearable motion sensing technology on physical activity in older adults.

Background And Purpose: Physical activity provides substantial health benefits. Older adults are less physically active than the rest of the population, and interventions that promote physical activity are needed. In this meta-analysis, we investigate how different wearable activity trackers (pedometers and accelerometers) may impact physical activity levels in older adults.

Teamwork and Electronic Health Record Implementation: A Case Study of Preserving Effective Communication and Mutual Trust in a Changing Environment.

This article describes how trust among team members and in the technology supporting them was eroded during implementation of an electronic health record (EHR) in an adult outpatient oncology practice at a comprehensive cancer center. Delays in care of a 38-year-old woman with high-risk breast cancer occurred because of ineffective team communication and are illustrated in a case study. The case explores how the patient's trust and mutual trust between team members were disrupted because of inaccurate assumptions about the functionality of the EHR's communication tool, resultant miscommunications between team members and the patient, and the eventual recognition that care was not being effectively coordinated, as it had been previously.

Transforming Oncology Care: Developing a Strategy and Measuring Success.

Objectives: To examine accountability and performance measurement in health care and present a case study that illustrates the link between goal setting and measurement and how a strategic plan can provide a framework for metric selection.

Data Sources: National reports, literature review and institutional experience.

Conclusion: Nurse leaders and clinicians in oncology settings are challenged to anticipate future trends in oncology care and create a culture, infrastructure, and practice environment that supports innovation, advancement of oncology nursing practice and excellence in patient- and family-centered care.

Oral Chemotherapy Education: Using Innovation to Ensure Broad Access.

The purpose of this article is to share one institution's intervention to improve oral chemotherapy patient education. The overall aim was to provide clinicians with a single source of educational materials that would meet a diverse group of patients' educational needs and be consistent with published guidelines.
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What matters to the patient is what really matters: quality in oncology nursing.

Reflecting on the 40th anniversary of the Oncology Nursing Society led me to recall my own 30-plus years in nursing and how, as a new graduate nurse, almost all oncology care was delivered in the inpatient setting. In my first few years of practice, I mixed my patients' chemotherapy in a medicine room without a ventilated hood and administered those medications without personal protective equipment or the independent RN double checks that have become standard to safe practice today. Through advances in science, tools are now in place to test and make changes, measure impact, and sustain improvements over time.

Neuropsychiatric conditions associated with anesthesia exposure.

Background: Although anesthetics have been used for more than a century, their mechanisms of action remain poorly understood. Given that a number of intraoperative and postoperative neuropsychiatric syndromes have been linked to the use of anesthetics, practitioners should familiarize themselves with these conditions.

Methods: Basic concepts about anesthesia are reviewed and neuropsychiatric syndromes associated with anesthesia exposure described.

Quality care: where we came from and where we must go.

The focus of this new column will be to showcase innovative work that has advanced quality in areas of practice and care delivery that are of interest to the practicing oncology nurse. Examples include, but are not limited to, practice environment innovation, patient outcomes and experiences of care, team effectiveness, and unit-based or institutionwide system changes.

High performance teamwork training and systems redesign in outpatient oncology.

Background: Oncology care is delivered largely in ambulatory settings by interdisciplinary teams. Treatments are often complex, extended in time, dispersed geographically and vulnerable to teamwork failures. To address this risk, we developed and piloted a team training initiative in the breast cancer programme at a comprehensive cancer centre.

Hopelessness and complementary therapy use in patients with ovarian cancer.

Background: Hopelessness negatively affects ovarian cancer patients' quality of life (QOL). Research validating the effects of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use on QOL and hope is scarce, even though QOL and hope are reasons that patients cite for using CAM therapy. Clinicians need effective, evidence-based interventions to improve QOL and reduce hopelessness.

Portrayals of professionalism by the media: trends in etiquette and bedside manners as seen on television.

Background: Critics of current healthcare argue that professionalism, as manifest by etiquette and bedside manners, has been eroding, in part as a consequence of portrayals on television (TV) and in the media.

Objective: We sought to identify changing patterns of physicians' behaviors as shown on TV (as these interactions have often served as models for physicians-in-training) over the last 30 years.

Method: We selected popular TV shows that portrayed practicing physicians and analyzed doctor-family, doctor-doctor, and doctor-nurse interactions as well as methods of disclosing errors to identify changing behavioral trends.

Oncology nursing in Cuba: report of the delegation.

In December 2011, the first delegation of oncology nurses from the United States visited Havana, Cuba. The delegation included oncology nurses, educators, and leaders from across America and provided opportunities to learn about the healthcare system, cancer, and oncology nursing in Cuba. Delegation members attended lectures, toured facilities, and enjoyed Cuban culture.

Lewd, crude, and rude behavior: the impact of manners and etiquette in the general hospital.

Background: Lewd, crude, and rude behaviors of patients and staff members have the potential to complicate care; unfortunately, the medical literature on manners and etiquette is sparse.

Objective: We sought to understand the impact of lewd, crude, and rude behaviors in the general hospital and to provide a context in which to educate clinicians about the management of troublesome behaviors of patients and staff members.

Method: We reviewed the history of etiquette in the general hospital, and discuss the ethical ramifications and clinical management of inappropriate behaviors.