Predictors of Nurse Practitioner Prescription of Opioids for Cancer Pain: Quantitative Results.

Background: Nurse practitioners (NPs) have assumed a greater role in the management of pain related to cancer. Several studies have associated adequate management of cancer pain with improved survival. Opioids are an essential treatment for cancer pain management and thus it is important to understand influences on prescribing these substances.

Health systems and health equity: Advancing the agenda.

Despite a compelling body of evidence and decades of policy recommendations, deep inequities in health persist with historically marginalized groups. Operationalizing strategies to achieve equity in health and health care continues to remain elusive to health systems. We propose several focus areas; attention to semantics and concepts, building knowledge of health inequities, redesigning care and transforming cultures, to advance health equity work by health system nurse leaders and clinical nurses.

Nursing Strategic Imperatives: Engaging Nurses in Strategy Development and Execution to Drive Value.

Strategic plans provide a roadmap for value creation by outlining key priorities that, when executed successfully, enhance quality and efficiency. Nurses are uniquely positioned to inform strategic planning because of their understanding of clinical operations and consumer needs. This article describes a multiphase process for engaging nurses, at all levels, in developing, implementing, and revising a nursing strategic plan over a 5-year period.

Policy Evaluation Of The Affordable Care Act Graduate Nurse Education Demonstration.

The US is experiencing a shortage of primary care providers, which could be reduced by the addition of nurse practitioners. However, the ability to increase the supply of nurse practitioners is limited by a shortage of clinical preceptors. The Affordable Care Act's Graduate Nurse Education Demonstration provided federal funding to offset the clinical training costs of advanced practice nurses.

Transparency, Public Reporting, and a Culture of Change to Quality and Safety in Cardiac Surgery.

Academic medical centers have a duty to serve as hospitals of last resort for advanced cardiac surgical care and therefore manage patients at elevated risk of postoperative morbidity and mortality. They must also meet state and professional quality targets devised to protect the public. The tension between these imperatives can be managed by a multidimensional quality improvement program that aims to manage risk, optimize outcomes, and exclude futile operations.

Value of Nurse Practitioner Inpatient Hospital Staffing.

Background: Evidence indicates hospitals with better registered nurse (RN) staffing have better patient outcomes. Whether involving more nurse practitioners (NPs) in inpatient care produces better outcomes is largely unknown.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether the presence of more NPs produces better inpatient outcomes net of RN staffing.

Moving beyond the measure: Understanding patients' experiences of communication with nurses.

Under Medicare's Value-Based Purchasing Program, scores derived from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey are used in the determination of incentive payments and financial penalties for healthcare organizations. Organizations, therefore, invest in approaches to improve the likelihood of positive patient responses. Evidence suggests that nurse communication as measured by HCAHPS influences overall patient satisfaction, yet little is known regarding what patients believe constitutes effective communication with nurses.

The Distinguished Nurse Clinician Academy: An Innovative Recognition Program for Frontline Clinicians.

The complexity and growth of healthcare systems provide nurse leaders an opportunity to recognize and facilitate professional development for experienced frontline clinicians and to create formal structures that give expert direct care nurses a stronger voice. The purpose of this article is to describe how one health system developed and implemented an innovative Distinguished Nurse Clinician Academy. This elite academy demonstrates the longitudinal impact of a health systems' Magnet culture.

Recent Advances in Antiemetics: New Formulations of 5-HT3 Receptor Antagonists in Adults.

Background: Despite the availability of effective antiemetic regimens, patients still experience chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). 5-Hydroxytryptamine 3 (5-HT3) receptor antagonists (RAs) are the mainstay of CINV prevention, and updated antiemetic guidelines include new options.

Objective: The aim of this study was to highlight advances in CINV management, focusing on new 5-HT3 RA formulations in adults, updated antiemetic guidelines, and the role of nurses.

A Multivariate Analysis of Pain and Distress in Adults Undergoing BMAB.

Clinicians routinely perform bone marrow aspiration and biopsy (BMAB) to diagnose cancer and evaluate disease status; however, few studies address pain and distress with BMAB. A prospective descriptive-correlational design examined patients' ( = 152) ratings of pain intensity (numeric rating scale, 0-10) and distress (distress thermometer) at baseline and 5 min and 1 hr postprocedure. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square, and linear regression models.

Partnering With Patients to Improve Care: The Value of Patient and Family Advisory Councils.

Increasingly, healthcare organizations are adopting patient and family advisory councils as a key strategy to create a culture grounded in patient- and family-centered principles and improve the patient experience. In the 1st of a 3-part series, the chief nurse executive and the director of patient- and family-centered care at a Magnet®-designated academic medical center discuss how a stronger patient voice can lead to better care and improved clinical outcomes. The authors examine ways in which the Magnet culture helped drive change and offer tips to establish a successful patient and family advisory council.

Complex patients and interprofessional relationships: Perceptions of primary care nurse practitioners and primary care physicians.

Purpose: The literature describing primary care nurse practitioners (PCNPs) and primary care physicians (PCPs) suggests that PCNPs provide care to patients with less complicated diagnoses than their PCP colleagues. However, other literature suggests the contrary. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how patients are assigned and cared for by primary care clinicians and how these clinicians relate to one another.

Telephone calls postdischarge from hospital to home: a literature review.

The oncology population is particularly affected by hospital readmissions because hospitalized patients with cancer often have complex needs. The complexity and diversity of care requirements create substantial challenges in planning for appropriate postdischarge support. Implementing postdischarge telephone calls in the population of patients with cancer could offer a low-cost intervention to address the complex needs of patients during the transition from hospital to home.

The experience of information sharing among primary care clinicians with cancer survivors and their oncologists.

Purpose Of Study: Knowledge about information sharing among primary care clinicians, oncologists, and their cancer patients is critical given its importance in facilitating the delivery of quality care to the increasing number of cancer survivors. The purpose of our study was to provide a better understanding of the nature of interactions among primary care clinicians, patients, and oncologists throughout the cancer care continuum to better understand the transition to survivorship.

Method: Twenty-one qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 11 primary care physicians and 10 nurse practitioners.

The endocrine tumor summit 2008: appraising therapeutic approaches for acromegaly and carcinoid syndrome.

The Endocrine Tumor Summit convened in December 2008 to address 6 statements prepared by panel members that reflect important questions in the treatment of acromegaly and carcinoid syndrome. Data pertinent to each of the statements were identified through review of pertinent literature by one of the 9-member panel, enabling a critical evaluation of the statements and the evidence supporting or refuting them. Three statements addressed the validity of serum growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) concentrations as indicators or predictors of disease in acromegaly.

Breast, colorectal and prostate cancer screening for cancer survivors and non-cancer patients in community practices.

Background: Cancer survivors have cancer surveillance and preventive screening needs that require monitoring. Little is known regarding their patterns of care in community primary care practices.

Methods: Secondary analysis of 750 baseline patient surveys and medical record audits for patients ages 50+ years in 25 community-based primary care practices (N = 109 survivors and 641 noncancer patients).

Putting evidence into practice: evidence-based interventions to prevent and manage anorexia.

Anorexia is defined as an involuntary loss of appetite.Approximately 50% of newly diagnosed patients with cancer experience the symptom, which often is accompanied by weight loss and most typically associated with advanced disease.Anorexia significantly affects the clinical course of cancer; it can lead to the development or exacerbation of disease- or treatment-related symptoms, decreased functional status, and diminished quality of life.

The effects of teamwork and system support on colorectal cancer screening in primary care practices.

Background: While cancer screening is generally increasing in the U.S., colorectal cancer (CRC) screening remains low.

Breast cancer survivors: information and support after treatment.

Women living with and beyond breast cancer have special health care needs. Persistent physical and psychological symptoms such as fatigue, pain, sleep disturbances, and fear of recurrence as well as quality-of-life outcomes have been described in women during and after breast cancer. Much less information exists on the experience of women completing treatment.

Clinical practice guideline use by oncology advanced practice nurses.

Understanding how clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are utilized and the effects of their implementation on outcomes is an important goal. The purpose of this investigation was to determine if oncology advanced practice nurse (APN) interventions provided to men with prostate cancer were consistent with Agency for Healthcare Policy and Research CPGs regarding pain [U.S.

The role of low-molecular-weight heparins as supportive care therapy in cancer-associated thrombosis.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common complication of malignant disease, affecting approximately 1 in 200 cancer patients. Oncology nurses are instrumental in identifying patients with cancer at high risk of venous thromboembolism. Risk factors include: stage of disease, chemotherapy, the patient's degree of immobility, a history of recent surgery, and the presence of a central venous catheter.

Therapeutic options for the treatment of cancer-associated thrombosis.

Objective: To provide oncology nurses with an understanding of therapeutic options for cancer-associated thrombosis, strategies to prevent recurrence, and practical issues in patient management.

Data Sources: Primary and tertiary literature and the author's clinical experience.

Conclusion: Oncology nurses monitor patients throughout the care continuum for signs and symptoms indicating vascular thromboembolism and need to know the steps to take to expedite an accurate diagnosis and ensure prompt treatment.

Importance of nutritional screening in treatment of cancer-related weight loss.

Weight loss is common in patients with cancer. Many factors, such as physiological abnormalities, response to the tumour, and treatment, contribute to this weight loss. Cancer-related weight loss affects a patient's response to treatment, as well as survival and quality of life.