CDC Warns Healthcare Workers of Emerging, Multidrug-Resistant Fungus

Candida auris is a multi-drug resistant yeast that is known to cause invasive infection and death. It first emerged in June 2016 and continues to present itself as a serious global threat. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), throughout 2017, healthcare facilities in multiple countries report serious illnesses caused by C.auris in hospitalized patients.

May 30, 2017

Safety

Mindfulness Meditation Can Improve Safety in Your Practice

Mindfulness meditation is a popular topic in the media now. Research has already demonstrated the clinical benefits of mindfulness-based stress reduction for patients with chronic pain or anxiety disorders. Although there’s been limited research about the benefits of mindfulness stress reduction for oncology nurses and their patients, some evidence suggests that engaging in mindfulness exercises could lead to a safer environment.

April 06, 2017

Clinical practice

Sepsis Identification and Early Goal-Directed Therapy

Infection represents a leading cause of death and treatment-related toxicities among patients with cancer in the United States. It stands to interfere with antineoplastic treatment plans by forcing dose modifications, delays, or discontinuation and instead turning to a less aggressive treatment plan.

March 03, 2017

Clinical practice

Identifying Medication Errors in Hospice Care

Medication errors are difficult to quantify in home hospice care, since the patients and their families are doing most of the medication administration themselves. This is a story about how one family members’ inquisitive attitude and partnership with her husband’s hospice nurse prevented a potentially serious medication error.

November 30, 2016

Healthcare safety standards

ONS Connects You to Cutting-Edge Standards to Support Your Practice

Although it’s hard to find the time to do so during a busy shift, there are times when you need to consult the best practice standards to support your work for a particular process. Whether you’re considering the best procedure for a central line dressing change or accessing an implanted port, or you’re considering the verification process and the best way to administer an IV chemotherapy agent, you need to know that your policies—and the competencies which you've engrained into your memory—are evidence-based and supported by your institution and professional organizations. Quality outcomes and measurements have never been more central to health care than they are now, and ONS-developed standards go a long way to supporting your practice.

November 21, 2016

Patient safety

New Computing Technology Ensures Safety for Telemedicine and Telemonitoring in Oncology Care

As a research associate for ONS, I participated on a panel of oncology experts advising a group of undergraduate and graduate students regarding the lived experience of cancer treatment for older adults. The students, attending Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, PA, were aspiring computer scientists taking a course called Rapid Prototyping of Computer Systems; they developed the following research question based on input from the expert panel.

October 24, 2016

Clinical practice

Addressing the Challenge of CLABSI Prevention

The deck frequently seems stacked against oncology nurses who are striving to avoid central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs). Consider the potential for immunosuppression, the need for prolonged central access, and the potential for poor nutritional status among our patient population, and it can seem nearly impossible to be CLABSI-free.

September 06, 2016

Patient safety

Addressing the Challenge of CAUTI Prevention When Safety is at Stake

From the day you began your career as an oncology nurse, it is quite likely that two main principles were ingrained into every aspect of your training and practice: infection prevention for our very susceptible patient population and using safe handling to reduce the risk of exposure to chemotherapy and other hazardous agents.

August 26, 2016

Clinical practice

Learning More About Point-of-Care Practices for Neutropenia

There is no doubt in the mind of oncology nurses that infection prevention is paramount to providing safe, quality cancer care. Neutropenic precautions have long been integrated into the plan of care for patients whose immune system are compromised due to cancer or cancer treatment.

August 24, 2016

Clinical practice

Addressing the Challenge of CLABSI Prevention

The deck frequently seems stacked against oncology nurses who are striving to avoid central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs). Consider the potential for immunosuppression, the need for prolonged central access, and the potential for poor nutritional status among our patient population, and it can seem nearly impossible to be CLABSI-free.

August 09, 2016

Interdisciplinary teams

How Can You Achieve Safety Across Disciplines?

Interdisciplinary communication is critical for patient safety across the healthcare continuum. One way our institution addressed communication barriers and looked to enhance understanding of each other’s roles was by creating an oncology service line pharmacy and nursing committee.

July 05, 2016

Culture of safety

Safety Starts With You: Creating Your Own Culture of Safety

Patient safety is of utmost importance in health care today, especially in an oncology setting where mistakes can have grave impacts on patients with complex care needs. The Health and Medicine Division, formerly the Institute of Medicine, estimated that 44,000–98,000 Americans die each year from preventable medical errors.

July 05, 2016

Patient advocacy

Reflecting on Medical Errors and Advocating for Change

Mistakes happen. Unfortunately, there’s no avoiding it, no one is above it, and I'm sure we can all think of a time that we made a mistake in our nursing practice. The events following a mistake in patient care can be chaotic and emotional. But after the dust settles, what’s most important is learning how to avoid the same mistakes from occurring again, and doing all you can to prevent your fellow nurses from making mistakes in a similar situation. Think of it as primary prevention.

June 13, 2016

Patient safety

Transparency Makes a Difference When Creating a Culture of Safety

Have you ever made a mistake in nursing? Well, I have and want to share my experience, feelings, and outcome. When this happened, all that I kept thinking was, “Did I harm my patient?” Maybe that sounds familiar to you. I think we can all say that we went into nursing to help others, not harm them.

June 06, 2016

Chemotherapy

Verification Nurses Identify Chemotherapy Order Errors and Improve Patient Safety

In 1995 when a patient died from a chemotherapy overdose at a major medical center, many cancer centers began reexamining their processes for safe chemotherapy administration and putting measures in place to reduce errors.

May 10, 2016

Oncology health literacy

The Impact of Health Literacy on Safety and Quality

A person with adequate health literacy has the ability to access, understand, and act on health-related information. Safety and quality can suffer when a person is limited in any one of these components.

May 04, 2016

Patient safety

Respecting Hazardous Drugs Protects Nurses, Patients and Eliminates Fear

A recent article on the Scrubs website, “Chemotherapy Drugs are Killing Nurses” shared important facts and concerns regarding the handling of hazardous drugs. It also highlighted the need for comprehensive education and collaboration to establish a culture of safety around the use of these drugs by building respect, not fear, for hazardous drugs in the workplace.

April 18, 2016

Patient safety

Celebrate Patient Safety Week

March 13-19, 2016 marks Safety Awareness Week. It encourages both patients and healthcare professionals to take a role in promoting patient safety. This is an appropriate message, because it takes everyone working together to make care as safe as possible for patients, families, and the healthcare professionals who provide this care.

March 13, 2016

Patient safety

Recognizing Smart Catches All Day, Every Day

Great catch, near miss, smart catch—they all mean the same thing: someone protected a patient from harm during care. These healthcare gems happen 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by every discipline in every healthcare setting, yet we rarely celebrate them. Why? Because health care is supposed to be safe. We're supposed to be highly reliable. We are supposed to heal and not harm. It's a must.

February 26, 2016

Patient safety

Evaluating Security in the Outpatient Setting

It has been a little over a year since cardiologist Dr. Michael J. Davidson, 44, was shot and killed at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. He was murdered during the day by the son of a patient he treated who had died a few months prior to the shooting. I remember that day well. I was working in my clinic and all of us wondered, “How could this happen? And could it happen in our clinic?” I like to think that all of our patients and families are thankful and appreciative for all we do for them, but unfortunately that isn't always the case.

February 24, 2016

Patient safety

Fostering a Culture of Safety: Is Less Really More From the Patient Perspective?

There is currently a huge focus on patient safety. It's not just in the news and literature. It pervades the clinical environment. I'm currently spending my days between two major teaching hospitals and an outpatient cancer institute, all in Boston, MA. Some of the safety concerns I have encountered just in the past week include

February 18, 2016

Patient safety