Clamp for Safety: Improving Intravesical Chemotherapy Practices.

Processes for intravesical chemotherapy after transurethral resection of nonmuscle invasive bladder tumors may lack standardization. In 2019, at a large health care system in Los Angeles, California, five incident reports involving chemotherapeutic agent spills from urinary catheters after bladder tumor procedures necessitated a quality improvement project. The project lead determined that a cost-effective alternative device for securing the chemotherapeutic agent in the bladder was needed at four surgical locations of the health care system.

Prone Positioning in Patients With COVID-19 and Non-COVID-19 Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Background: Patients critically ill with COVID-19 develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and may undergo prone positioning.

Objective: To compare the effects of prone positioning on oxygenation, intensive care unit length of stay, and intubation days in patients with COVID-19 ARDS and patients with non-COVID-19 ARDS.

Methods: A convenience sample of intubated patients with COVID-19 and moderate to severe ARDS (per Berlin criteria) was compared with historical data from a retrospective, descriptive medical record review of patients with non-COVID-19 ARDS.

Integration of Behavioral Cough Suppression Therapy Into Lung Cancer Care: Nonpharmacologic Interventions for Chronic Cough.

Background: Chronic cough is a demanding symptom of lung cancer. Clinical research tends to underestimate the impact of lung cancer-related cough on patient quality of life. Current guidelines do not describe how oncology nurses, as a vital part of the interprofessional team, can use nonpharmacologic interventions described by behavioral cough suppression therapy (BCST) techniques for patients with lung cancer.

Using a Quality Improvement Model to Implement Distress Screening in a Community Cancer Setting.

Background: Quality cancer care includes routine screening for psychosocial distress. This quality improvement project focused on the implementation of distress screening at a licensed affiliate of Cancer Support Community, a community-based non-profit organization that provides professionally led cancer support.

Methods: An advanced practice oncology nurse assisted the staff in implementing and evaluating the process of distress screening.

Reflections on the Emotional Hazards of Pediatric Oncology Nursing: Four Decades of Perspectives and Potential.

Theoretical Principles: Pediatric oncology nurses are particularly vulnerable to emotional distress. Responsible for the oversight of a child's care, these nurses sustain close interactions with multiple patients and families over time, many of whom are coping with life-limiting diagnoses. The world of pediatric oncology nurses is one where tragedy is routinely witnessed thus demanding self-care and healing across a continuum.

Five years and counting.

Oncology professionals are fully aware that the five-year mark of being disease-free after the diagnosis of cancer is not a magical number. Cancer is now considered a chronic disease and recurrence can happen at any time, which is unexpected and frightening. Yet, for me, and for many other cancer survivors, the five-year mark is one to be celebrated.

Cancer-related anemia: clinical review and management update.

Anemia is a decrease in circulating red blood cells that contributes to a complex group of symptoms. Anemia may be present in more than half of all patients with cancer but often is assessed, documented, prevented, and treated inadequately. Individuals with cancer are living longer, and the number of cancer treatment options provided at various points in the cancer continuum is growing; however, many treatments contribute to anemia.

Advances in hormonal therapy for breast cancer.

Objectives: To describe recent developments in hormonal therapy for breast cancer, focusing on SERMs and AIs.

Data Sources: Published journal articles and texts, research reports and monographs, government publications, and professional organization guidelines.

Conclusion: Research continues to identify the effectiveness of hormonal therapy in breast cancer, including adjuvant treatment in early and advanced stages as well as a chemopreventive measure.