Reducing Team Burnout Through Enhanced Scope of Practice for Nursing Assistive Personnel.

Persistent nursing workforce shortages, in conjunction with the COVID-19 pandemic and increased patient acuity, have led to increased utilization of nursing assistive personnel (NAP) within acute care settings. Although the work demand of NAPs continues to increase, their delegated work autonomy remains ambiguous and diverse. This lack of clarity impacts effective teamwork, collaboration, and delegation.

Pediatric Chemotherapy Infusions in Outpatient Examination Rooms: A Novel Patient Care Approach.

Many health care organizations offer pediatric infusions in outpatient infusion centers or, as in our organization, in a hospital-based outpatient Pediatric Infusion Therapy Center (PITC). When restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic decreased our PITC appointment capacity by 40%, other patient and family satisfaction issues were exacerbated. We implemented a new approach to pediatric infusions with the aim of improving patient and family satisfaction and reducing the amount of time in an appointment itinerary without negatively affecting patient safety.

Introducing Essential Oils into Pediatric and Other Practices at an Academic Medical Center.

Aromatherapy is an integrative intervention that uses essential oils to address symptom management, potentially as a first-line intervention or as a complement to other medical treatments. Aromatherapy is gaining widespread acceptance and increased scientific evidence of efficacy. Integrative and holistic nursing care uses integrative therapies such as aromatherapy and the principle of moving from a less invasive intervention to a more invasive intervention according to patient needs, symptoms, and preferences.

Discordance between urine pH measured by dipstick and pH meter: implications for methotrexate administration protocols.

Objectives: To minimize toxicity of high-dose methotrexate (MTX) therapy, urinary alkalinization with frequent monitoring of urine pH is required. Urine pH is usually assessed by fast and convenient dipstick methods. When urine color interferes with dipstick measurement, as occurs in patients receiving MTX, alternative methods such as pH meters are used.