Implanted ports are an important lifeline for patients receiving antineoplastic treatments; however, despite vast nursing research on the maintenance and utilization of venous implanted ports, still so much remains to be learned. Many of the practices surrounding implanted ports remain controversial.

Advancements in medical records technology provide safeguards and contribute to overall patient safety. However, consider the following treatment scenarios and how they may present opportunities for error and jeopardize patient safety.

As healthcare institutions are looking to adopt new technologies to better assist patients, telehealth is becoming a prominent resource for many practitioners. By providing the ability to call or video conference with healthcare providers, institutions can offer patients the care they need from the comfort of their own homes.

Beginning in January 2018, oncology nurses will see changes to the way their patients’ cancers are staged with the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) system. According to a presentation at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network annual conference in March 2017, when the AJCC 8th Edition Cancer Staging System takes effect on January 1, 2018, more cases may be classified as stage I, especially for patients with breast cancer.

The ONS Oncology Nurse Generalist competencies define the fundamental knowledge, skills, and abilities that nurses new to oncology practice should develop or acquire within the first one to two years of oncology practice. The target audience includes both beginning nurses new to practice as well as seasoned nurses who enter the oncology specialty after working in another area.

When the National Academy of Medicine, formerly the Institute of Medicine, released its 2010 report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, it cited a need for improvement in nursing education and practice through the implementation of nursing competencies.

Access devices have been used for decades to administer the complex treatments and supportive care that oncology nurses deliver daily to patients with cancer. As these devices and other products evolve, nurses need evidence-based methodologies for critiquing their safety and effectiveness.

The ONS clinical inbox frequently receives questions about whether nurses need to be “chemotherapy certified” to give specific chemotherapy and/or biotherapy agents.

Nurses are no strangers to evidence-based practice changes, and they’re often leading the way when it comes to implementing new standards of care.