It’s been almost a decade since the Institute of Medicine—now the National Academies of Medicine (NAM)—released The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health report. Although many aspects of the nursing profession have been enhanced, still others are woefully lacking in change. Healthcare workplace safety incidents are still too high—up to 12 times higher than in the overall workforce—educational opportunities are still too expensive, and scope-of-practice authority is still too limiting in many states—all of which are ONS policy priorities.
Five years ago, I was consulted, as a mental health clinical nurse specialist, by a nurse manager seeking assistance in determining an appropriate response to a bullying situation on one of her units. That was the first time I learned that our profession has a longstanding and significant problem with incivility and bullying from within.
A. Adoptive transfer
B. Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity
C. Pathogen associated molecular patterns
D. Phagocytosis
Setting ONS up for a strong future was the overarching theme of the January 2019 ONS Board of Directors meeting by conference call. The group appointed new members to the Leadership Development Committee—which grows, shapes, and nominates ONS’s future leaders—and devised a strategy for identifying what oncology nursing’s role will be 10 years in the future.
Three cytogenetic subtypes are particularly responsible for the increased incidence of multiple myeloma in people of African descent, according to the results of a study published in Blood Cancer Journal.
On March 18, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved atezolizumab in combination with carboplatin and etoposide, for the first-line treatment of adult patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.
Annually, the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) brings together more than 3,700 oncology nurses from across the country and around the globe to celebrate and advance the oncology nursing profession. The 44th Annual ONS Congress in Anaheim, CA, from April 11–15, 2019, showcases educational sessions, networking opportunities, and groundbreaking nursing research.
New treatment options continue to emerge for diseases that until recently had limited, if any, treatment choices. Nurses are seeing more changes in the way treatment regimens come together, biosimilars are presenting viable options for patients, and genetic mutations, as opposed to disease sites, are at the forefront of drug development.
The day the administration releases the president’s budget, outlining funding levels for federal departments and their respective programs, has become an annual event around the Beltway. When that document was unveiled on March 11, 2019, it arrived on Capitol Hill like a lead zeppelin. Under the proposed budget, the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) budget would see a 13% cut, and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) would have its budget reduced by 15%.
Reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as hydroxyl and superoxide radicals, singlet oxygen, and hydrogen peroxide, are byproducts of metabolic processes in the body and play an important role in regulating cell physiology and function. But uncontrolled ROS formation (oxidative stress) can result in DNA, protein, and lipid damage, which has been implicated in several diseases, including cancer. Antioxidants, produced endogenously or in supplemental form, function as ROS scavengers and inhibit oxidative stress.