Solving alarm fatigue with smartphone technology.

Alarms were developed to improve patient safety, but alarm fatigue may put patients at higher risk for harm. This article recounts one acute care institution's search for a better alarm management solution using smartphone technology to replace its beeper-based system for telemetry alarm events.

CE: Breast Cancer Screening: A Review of Current Guidelines.

: Breast cancer accounts for more than a quarter million diagnoses each year in the United States. Routine screening is the primary method used to detect cancer in its earliest stages, before symptoms develop. Recent changes to national screening guidelines have resulted in a lack of consensus and confusion among health care providers and the public.

Herbal Medications and Anesthesia Case Management.

Herbal medicine use in the United States has increased substantially. Despite this upward trend, patients often fail to disclose use of these medicines to their healthcare provider. Currently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not require preclinical animal studies, controlled clinical trials, or postmarket surveillance of herbal supplements.

Decreasing Smoking but Increasing Stigma? Anti-tobacco Campaigns, Public Health, and Cancer Care.

Public health researchers, mental health clinicians, philosophers, and medical ethicists have questioned whether the public health benefits of large-scale anti-tobacco campaigns are justified in light of the potential for exacerbating stigma toward patients diagnosed with lung cancer. Although there is strong evidence for the public health benefits of anti-tobacco campaigns, there is a growing appreciation for the need to better attend to the unintended consequence of lung cancer stigma. We argue that there is an ethical burden for creators of public health campaigns to consider lung cancer stigma in the development and dissemination of hard-hitting anti-tobacco campaigns.

Participation in Activities Associated With Quality of Life for Long-Term Survivors of Rectal Cancer.

Context: Cancer patients' participation in social, recreational, and civic activities is strongly associated with quality of life (QOL), but these activities are not well integrated into cancer survivorship research or interventions.

Objective: Test the hypothesis that for long-term (≥ 5 years) survivors of rectal cancer, clinical factors (type of surgery and bowel function) are associated with long-term participation in activities and that participation in activities is associated with long-term QOL.

Design: Observational study with longitudinal and cross-sectional components.

Comparing Self-Injection Teaching Strategies for Patients With Breast Cancer and Their Caregivers: A Pilot Study.

Background: A prospective, quasiexperimental pilot study with a sequential design was performed to compare two methods of teaching self-injection.

Objectives: The study examined 50 patients with breast cancer undergoing adjuvant or neoadjuvant treatment and their caregivers to determine if simulation during the teaching experience affects patient/caregiver satisfaction, worry, and self-confidence, as well as nurse satisfaction.

Methods: Structured questionnaires were administered before the teaching, immediately after the teaching, and after the injection was performed at home.

CE: Human Papillomavirus-Related Oropharyngeal Cancer: A Review of Nursing Considerations.

: The overall incidence of head and neck cancer-which includes laryngeal, hypopharyngeal, nasal cavity, paranasal sinus, nasopharyngeal, oral, oropharyngeal, and salivary gland cancers-has declined in the United States over the past 30 years with the concomitant reduction in tobacco use. Over that same period, however, the worldwide incidence of oropharyngeal cancer has escalated significantly, most notably among men and women under age 60 who live in developed countries. This epidemic rise in oropharyngeal cancer is largely attributed to certain genotypes of the human papillomavirus (HPV).

Nipple-Areola Tattoos: Making the Right Referral.

Purpose/objectives: To examine oncology care providers' knowledge of tattooing options for patients who have elected to have breast reconstruction as part of their breast cancer treatment. 
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Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Adverse Late and Long-Term Treatment Effects in Adult Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Survivors.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has become the standard of care for many malignant and nonmalignant hematologic diseases that don't respond to traditional therapy. There are two types: autologous transplantation (auto-HSCT), in which an individual's stem cells are collected, stored, and infused back into that person; and allogeneic transplantation (allo-HSCT), in which healthy donor stem cells are infused into a recipient whose bone marrow has been damaged or destroyed. There have been numerous advancements in this field, leading to marked increases in the number of transplants performed annually.

Improving Patient Safety and Satisfaction With Standardized Bedside Handoff and Walking Rounds.

In 2009, the Joint Commission identified a standardized approach to handoff communication as a patient safety goal to reduce communication errors. Evidence suggests that a structured handoff report, combined with active patient participation, reduces communication errors and promotes patient safety. Research shows that bedside handoff increases nurses' accountability by visualizing the patient and exchanging information at the point of care.

Using Technology for Distraction During Imaging in a Pediatric Population.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) simulation and audiovisual (AV) devices are technological tools that can improve the patient experience during imaging procedures and lead to overall healthcare benefits for patients, healthcare providers, and institutions. AV devices, such as MRI-compatible goggles and headphones, offer the potential to improve the patient experience. These options can be offered to patients who describe negative feelings, including anxiety, prior to imaging.

Nursing considerations for patients with sarcoma on pazopanib therapy.

Background: Pazopanib was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in patients with soft tissue sarcoma (STS) in 2012.

A workshop for educating nurses to address sexual health in patients with breast cancer.

Breast cancer is associated with significant sexual side effects. However, nurses and other healthcare providers are often reluctant to initiate a discussion about sexual health with their patients because of numerous barriers, including knowledge, time, and confidence. This article describes the development and implementation of a sexual health workshop for oncology nurses intended to increase their knowledge about common sexual side effects in patients with breast cancer, strengthen their confidence in addressing sexual health, and provide them with tools and resources to educate their patients.

Maternal Caregiving Demands for Adolescent and Young Adult Survivors of Pediatric Brain Tumors.

Purpose/objectives: To examine the daily maternal caregiving demands for adolescent and young adult survivors of pediatric brain tumors who live with their families.

Design: A secondary analysis was conducted on interview data gathered during a large mixed-methods study that focused on perceived maternal caregiver competency and survivor health-related quality of life.

Setting: Home interviews.

Nursing management of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer undergoing radium-223 dichloride treatment.

Background: Radium-223 dichloride, or radium-223, is a first-in-class alpha emitter that selectively targets bone metastases with high-energy, short-range alpha particles and is approved for the treatment of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), symptomatic bone metastases, and no known visceral metastatic disease. Nurses are essential in educating patients about radium-223.

Objectives: This article provides oncology nurses with information from the randomized phase III Alpharadin in Symptomatic Prostate Cancer (ALSYMPCA) trial, as well as important handling, administration, and safety details unique to radium-223.

Prescribing trends with daptomycin (cubicin) for the treatment of gram-positive infections.

The injectable agent daptomycin, when prescribed according to approved guidelines, can be a welcome option for treating some multiresistant, gram-positive infections that have become increasingly prevalent.

The importance of MRI evaluation in the preoperative work-up of prostate cancer.

Background: A 59-year-old man on exogenous androgen therapy presented with a clinically palpable prostate nodule confined to one lobe on endorectal examination. Serum prostate-specific antigen was 3.4 ng/ml.