Danielle has a double-lumen implanted port and is scheduled to receive rituximab for lymphoma. After accessing the lateral septum, the nurse is unable to get a blood return, even though saline flushes easily. Danielle comments that the “outside lumen hasn’t drawn well since it was placed a few months ago, and that the other nurses have been using the inside lumen.” The nurse accesses the inside lumen and is able to get a good blood return. What would you do?
Suzanne Mahon, RN, DNSc, AOCN®, APNG, is a professor in internal medicine and adult nursing at Saint Louis University where she has run the Hereditary Cancer Program in the Saint Louis University Cancer Center since 1999. She has been an oncology nurse for 30 years. Suzanne lives in Sunset Hills, MO, with her loving husband Jerry who is a geriatrician. Her oldest daughter, Emily, has degrees in music therapy and nursing and works as an RN caring for the older adult population. Suzanne’s middle daughter, Maureen, recently completed her BSN and is working with neurosurgical patients, and her youngest daughter, Elaine, is pursuing a BSN with a minor in public health from Saint Louis University. Suzanne’s energetic lab mix dog, Maggie, keeps her busy and active. Outside of nursing she is proud to be an active parent in her girls’ lives and enjoys reading, swimming, fishing, and cross stitching.
William calls your office complaining of painful redness and blisters on his chest. He admits that during the recent warm weather, he hadn’t been wearing a shirt while working in the yard. He initially thought it was a sunburn, but the symptoms continued to worsen and were unrelieved by typical sunburn remedies. Upon reviewing William’s chart, you see that he recently received radiation and chemotherapy therapy for Hodgkin disease. What would you do?
This ONS PEP resource was packed full of pertinent information, offering a brief but helpful review of types of pain and examples of clinical pain measurement tools. The introduction section featured several important sections before it really got into the meat of the book.
It's not a support group. It's not grief counseling. It is, however, a safe place to talk about death and dying. Oh, and there's tea and cookies (or cake!).
On June 5, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved lenalidomide capsules (Revlimid®, Celgene Corporation), for the treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma whose disease has relapsed or progressed after two prior therapies, one of which included bortezomib.
A nurse residency or new graduate RN program is a fantastic way to ease the transition from school to your first RN job in a hospital setting. Each is designed to support and encourage new graduates to more quickly develop acute care competencies.
What were attendees wild about at the 38th Annual ONS Congress? Each other: learning from and next to more than 3,500 other oncology nurses ready to celebrate the joy of oncology nursing.
Patients who receive care based on scientific evidence have better outcomes, but research continues to report numerous barriers to implementing evidence-based nursing practice in the clinical arena.
Ask any oncology nurse leader and nearly all will tell you: they didn’t get to where they are without learning a few things along the way. Leadership is a process, building the future while learning from the past.
