 magazine, recently asked its audience of patients, survivors, and caregivers to share how oncology nurses have helped them on their cancer journey. In honor of Nurses' Week, from May 6-12, take a look at what some of them had to say - and thank you for your dedication!

I’ve had so many amazing nurses just show basic kindness & respect. To have someone listen to you, hold your hand, or give you a hug during extremely emotional times makes a world of difference. I’m so grateful for their unwavering compassion. – D.D.

They are angels! Calming, caring, and they talk with me as though I'm "normal" and not sick. – B.C.

I've had support from many oncology nurses. There were patient designated nurses during my original diagnosis. And since my regional recurrence I've been working with a nurse practitioner. But the ones who boosted my spirits were the treatment nurses. – N.D.

Nurses have the ability to make treatment so much more bearable. – S.D.

After my mastectomy I was feeling very alone, my sweet nurse came into my room and spent so much time with me just talking and being there for me. I loved that she took time for me in a time when I was feeling confused and alone. – T.V.

My nurses helped me) by making sure my needs were met, both physically and emotionally. – D.K.

(My nurse) keeps track of my labs and chemotherapy appointments. She is always encouraging me and even stopped by with a new oncology nurse to do my neurology exam to show her how it’s done. – C.V.

The nurses at the chemo clinic were amazing! – M.E.

My two favorite oncology nurses are twins that work together. Seeing them at the center actually makes me feel less anxious... I’m fortunate to have them on my cancer care team. – Y.P.

Articles

In honor of Nurses' Week, from May 6-12, we’re sharing what some patients, survivors, and caregivers had to say about how oncology nurses helped them along their cancer journey.

Oncology Nursing News Honors Nurses’ Week 2021

Each month, we take a look back at the most popular 

 stories. Here are the top 5 stories from April 2021.

5. Caring for the Geriatric Patient: What Oncology Nurses Need to Know

The cover story of our latest issue examines why oncology nurses must consider many factors when treating 

, from drug-drug interactions to treatment education and functional age.

4. Lurbinectedin Shows Promise in Small Cell Lung Cancer Treatment

Wade T. Iams, MD, discusses the efficacy and safety of 

 in in patients with small cell lung cancer, the impact of its approval on the paradigm, and remaining questions regarding its use.

3. Breast Cancer Surgery in a Pandemic: What's the Best Approach?

In a recent interview, breast surgeon Cindy Matsen, MD, discusses the 

2. FDA Authorizes Marketing for AI Colon Cancer Detection Device

Earlier this month, the FDA authorized the marketing of the 

 that utilizes artificial intelligence based on machine learning to help clinicians detect lesions like polyps or suspected tumors in the colon in real time during a colonoscopy.

1. Approach Health Disparities From All Angles

, this feature highlights the need for health care and community sectors to come together and improve cancer outcomes for underserved populations.

Each month, we take a look back at the most popular Oncology Nursing News® stories. Here are the top 5 stories from April 2021.

Oncology Nursing News Top Stories: April 2021

Certain factors such as being younger in age, having more comorbidities and having had a higher number of prior cancer treatments all contribute to higher levels of sleep disturbance in patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, according to Yufen Lin MSN, RN, of the Duke University School of Nursing.

At this year’s Oncology Nursing Society’s Annual Congress, Lin explained that chemotherapy is a common primary treatment for various GI cancers, and sleep disturbance is a frequent and distressing symptom that patients experience as a result of treatment. These disturbances often lead to a decrease in patients’ functional status, treatment responses and quality of life (QOL).

Previous studies have focused on various aspects of sleep disturbance and its impact on patients with cancer, including risk factors, but few have looked at sleep characteristics or combined all of this information into one study.

“Most studies have focused on patients with breast cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer. Less is known about sleep disturbance in patients with GI cancer,” Lin said in her presentation.

Therefore, Lin and her team took a “person-centered approach” to identify the subsets of patients with GI cancers with distinct sleep disturbance profiles and evaluate the differences among these subgroups in demographic, clinical, and sleep characteristics, co-occurring symptoms, as well as QOL outcomes.

To do so, 405 participants were asked to complete questionnaires 6 times over 2 cycles of chemotherapy. Levels of sleep disturbance were evaluated using the General Sleep Disturbance Scale (GSDS). This was also the first study to use latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify subgroups of patients with GI cancers with distinct sleep disturbance profiles.

In this analysis, researchers evaluated the differences in demographic, clinical, and sleep characteristics, co-occurring symptoms, and QOL outcomes among the subgroups, using parametric and non-parametric analyses.

In total, 3 different sleep disturbance classes were identified across the six assessments: Low (35.8%), High (48.6%), and Very High (15.6%). When compared to patients in the Low class, those in the High and Very High classes were significantly younger, had more comorbidities, had a higher number of prior cancer treatments, were less likely to be married or partnered, and were less likely to exercise on a regular basis.

Compared to the Low class, patients in the Very High sleep disturbance class were less likely to be employed and had a diagnosis of back pain, while patients in the Very High class were more likely to report having childcare responsibilities.

Among all 3 sleep disturbance classes, significant differences that gradually increased in each group were found for comorbidity burden, occurrence of depression, and the GSDS subscale and total scores. Additionally, patients in the Very High class reported higher levels of anxiety, depressive symptoms, morning and evening fatigue, and pain, and lower levels of attentional function and QOL scores at enrollment.

According to Lin, these findings provide new insights into the risk factors and co-occurring symptoms that could lead to higher levels of sleep disturbance in patients with GI cancers, which can, in turn, help health care providers identify and address these problems before they start.

“Clinicians can use common and distinct factors to identify high-risk patients with sleep disturbance, and also initiate appropriate sleep hygiene education and referrals,” Lin said.

Additionally, these findings highlighted the need for further research into the underlying mechanisms that contribute to the development of sleep disturbance, and could prompt providers to develop personalized symptom management interventions to reduce symptom burden and improve QOL.

Yufen L., Bailey D., Docherty S. Distinct Sleep Disturbance Profiles in Patients with Gastrointestinal Cancers Receiving Chemotherapy. Presented at: Oncology Nursing Society 46th Annual Congress; April 20, 22, 27, and 29, 2021. Late-Breaking Abstract #5.

Factors such as being younger in age, having more comorbidities, and more prior cancer treatments all contribute to higher levels of sleep disturbance in patients with gastrointestinal cancers.

Factors Correspond With Higher Levels of Sleep Disturbance in Patients with GI Cancers

A walking program dramatically increased the number of steps walked by patients being treated for hematologic malignancies at City of Hope National Medical Center in California, according to a poster on the program presented at this year’s Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) Annual Congress.

After noticing decreased ambulation by patients during their hospitalization, in addition to increased fall rates and a decrease in documentation of ambulation in electronic medical records, presenter Kimberly Mercado, MSN, RN, BMTCN, and her colleagues decided to implement a walking program for patients to increase ambulation and decrease falls.

“We really wanted to give them a program that would help them to get motivated to exercise on the unit and kind of get out of their rooms, and keep up their stamina while they're receiving this treatment. Because as we all know, these treatments can be quite debilitating as in especially during COVID,” Mercado said during her poster presentation. “When the visitor policies don't allow for very many visitors, we wanted to make sure they had something to look forward to during their day and kind of get out and move.”

Additionally, Mercado explained, a walking program could also potentially be beneficial to patients suffering from cancer-related fatigue, as exercise had been previously shown to improve this side effect.

To start, Mercado and her colleagues created a brochure that explained the program to newly admitted patients and used foot-shaped necklace charms as incentives that patients could earn with each milestone they achieved. “Anytime a patient walked a lap, they could get a foot charm and hang it on their IV pole on a little chain to kind of remind them how much they've walked,” Mercado explained, “And it became nice for them to collect and understand how just how well they were doing.”

“Another incentive we gave was a reusable City of Hope mask that if anybody walked to 5K (3.1 miles) while they were on the unit, they would be given this to take home with them,” Mercado added.

Mercado and her colleagues also hung motivational posters throughout the unit to help keep patients motivated and moving.

A staff education component was implemented through emails, flyers, and in meetings, with the goal of explaining the program and offering tips how to encourage patients to participate.

One of the biggest interventions in the program, Mercado noted, was a change in workflow that asked night shift nurses to chart the amount of feet walked by patients throughout their day with the intention of standardizing charting and recording accurate ambulation data.

At baseline, patients walked an average of 136 steps in a 24-hour period. After implementing the program, that number was up to an average of 847 steps a few weeks into the program, and further increased to an average 1,018 steps per day at the end of one month.

While fall data is still being collected, the number of inpatient falls decreased from 6 in Q1 of 2020 to 4 in Q1 of 2021 thus far. Additionally, the number of falls with injury was 0, compared to 1 in 2020. To Mercado and her colleagues, this data, coupled with the dramatic increase in daily steps, signaled a success. “Patients seem to really take to it and enjoy it as well,” she noted.

“So as we go along, we obviously want to keep doing this program on our floor. Maybe it could even go house-wide at some time,” she said.

In addition to evaluating fall data, going forward, Mercado concluded that she and her colleagues plan to gather patient feedback to further improve upon the walking program and add additional incentives such as challenge coins, pins, and patches for completing milestones such as distances of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), a half marathon (13.1 miles) or even marathons (26.2 miles).

“If you can walk a marathon while you're getting cancer treatment, that's incredible,” Mercado said.

Mercado K. Implementation of A Walking Program For Hematology Patients. Presented at: Oncology Nursing Society 46th Annual Congress; April 20, 22, 27, and 29, 2021. ePoster 1880. 

https://ons.confex.com/ons/2021/qi/eposterview.cgi?eposterid=1880

A walking program dramatically increased the number of steps walked by patients being treated for hematologic malignancies. 

Walking Program Improves Ambulation in Patients with Hematologic Cancer

 stories. Here are the top 5 stories from March 2021.

5. Immunotherapy and ADCs Make Headway in Metastatic TNBC

Anthracyclines and taxanes remain a backbone in the early-stage setting of 

 as further evaluations of immunotherapy in the neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings needs to be conducted—efforts that will continue to shape the treatment paradigm.

4. New Treatment Methods Launch a Shift in CRC Treatment

When it comes to colorectal cancer, Tony Philip, MD, provides insight into the utility of ctDNA in the early-stage setting, trials that could determine its role in clinical practice, and detailed the shift toward nonoperative and less-intensive interventions in the 

3. Updates Change HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Treatment

In this story, learn more about how The KATHERINE, FeDeriCa, DESTINY-Breast01, and HER2CLIMB trials have changed practice for patients with 

2. Frontline CLL Treatment: What's the Right Approach?

 has expanded beyond continuous treatment with BTK inhibitors with the addition of the time-limited regimen of venetoclax plus obinutuzumab.

1. Study Explores Actionable Pathologic Variants in Caribbean Women With Breast or Ovarian Cancer

Here, we examine recent data that found that one in 7 

 with either breast or ovarian cancer had hereditary disease with an actionable pathogenic variant, which provides the opportunity for the utilization of targeted therapeutics and precise prevention strategies.

Each month, we take a look back at the most popular Oncology Nursing News® stories. Here are the top 5 stories from March 2021.

Oncology Nursing News Top Stories: March 2021 

 stories. Here are the top 5 stories from February 2021.

5. Cancer Drugs Spark Hope in Combatting COVID-19

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, investigators around the world channeled their efforts into acquiring a better understanding of the virus so that they could rapidly identify any weapons that may be used in the fight against its spread; this included turning to 

 to see whether they could be repurposed to address this pressing need.

4. Better Care for Minorities, Improved Telehealth: Next Steps in Lung Cancer

In light of the numerous advances that have led to improved outcomes for 

, the field should work to devote more research to minority populations who have been historically underrepresented in clinical trials, said Rogerio C. Lilenbaum, MD, who added that formal training on telehealth services is also needed to ensure these advances are accessible to every patient.

, but will it stay there after the COVID-19 pandemic is over, especially as the population ages? We explore the pros and cons of telemedicine in this piece.

2. Ruxolitinib Is Promising in Pediatric Chronic GVHD

Ruxolitinib (Jakafi), when administered using a pediatric dosing algorithm, was found to elicit responses in patients with 

 (GVHD) with acceptable safety, according to preliminary findings presented during the 2021 Transplantation & Cellular Therapy Meeting.

1. Cancer Prevention: Why, Who, When, Where, How

While cancer continues to be a leading cause of death globally, oncology nursing is constantly evolving and expanding to meet emerging needs. Learn more in this piece about the role oncology nurses can play in 

Each month, we take a look back at the most popular Oncology Nursing News® stories. Here are the top 5 stories from February 2021.

Oncology Nursing News Top Stories: February 2021 

 stories. Here are the top 5 stories from January 2021.

5. A Drug Indication Is Pulled From the Market: Now What?

Drug approvals are seemingly happening faster than ever before, with many therapies being 

 based on promising interim results from clinical trials. But what happens when the data in later confirmatory trials is not as good, and treatments may be pulled from the market? Learn more in this piece.

4. Secondline Maintenance PARP Inhibition in Ovarian Cancer: Pros and Cons

PARP inhibitors in the second-line maintenance setting

 have allowed some patients with recurrent ovarian cancer to derive prolonged progression-free survival, while being spared chemotherapy-related toxicities, choosing between the 3 approved PARP inhibitors remains a significant challenge, as this piece examines.

3. Managers Can Promote or Improve Nurse Loneliness

Even though nurses may be around people all day, they may still feel lonely, which could lead to job dissatisfaction, compromised patient care, and a high turnover rate among nurses, according to 

2. Step Count May Boost QOL in Patients Receiving SM-88

 during the first 2 weeks of treatment with SM-88 was found to correlate with overall self-reported quality of life in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, according to trial results presented during the 2021 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

1. Precision Medicine: Where We've Been, Where We're Going

Targeted therapy and immunotherapy have drastically shifted the cancer landscape in recent years, but there is still more to accomplish in the way of precision medicine, according to the American Cancer Society’s “

Blueprint for cancer research: critical gaps and opportunities

Each month, we take a look back at the most popular Oncology Nursing News® stories. Here are the top 5 stories from January 2021.

Oncology Nursing News Top Stories: January 2021

From the possibility of student loan elimination to the impact of COVID-19 on oncology patients, here’s a look back at the top 5 

Proposed Bill Could Slash Clinicians' Student Debt

Back in May, we took a closer look at a newly proposed bill that would eliminate student debt for healthcare workers who are treating patients with COVID-19, and how oncology nurses could be included in this act, given their proximity to patients who may be more susceptible to the virus.  

 States Roll Back Rule Forcing NPs to Practice With Physician Oversight

While the law dictates that nurse practitioners (NPs) must work under the supervision of physicians, this rule is being reevaluated, with 22 states, plus Washington DC, the Indian Health Care Services, and the VA Health Care Services, allowing NPs to practice without physician oversight. Here, we speak with an expert about why this advancement is long overdue, and the hope that more states catch on.

FDA Recommends Black-Box Warning on Breast Implants

In this piece about the final guidance issued by the Food and Drug Administration in September, we examine why makers of breast implants were directed to supplement their labeling to include a boxed warning about health problems that can arise from the devices, along with a patient decision checklist that highlights those concerns.

Are Patients with Cancer at Higher Risk of COVID-19?

In late March, we shared details of a small study conducted in Wuhan, China, that found that patients with cancer who are diagnosed with COVID-19 tend to have poorer outcomes, making it vital that the oncology treatment team screen their patients for the virus before continuing on with treatment.

2020: WHO's International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife

When the World Health Organization designated 2020 as the “International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife,” in honor of the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth, we looked at how this announcement aimed to elevate nursing throughout the world and lead individuals to recognize the many roles we nurses fill in global healthcare.

From the possibility of student loan elimination to the impact of COVID-19 on oncology patients, here’s a look back at the top 5 Oncology Nursing News stories of 2020.
 

Nurse Navigators Play a Vital Role for Breast Cancer Patients in the Oncology Clinic

 stories. Here are the top 5 stories from November 2020.

5. Jeopardy! Host Alex Trebek Died After Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis

Oncology Nursing News was saddened to report that 

, host of the popular game show Jeopardy! died on Nov. 8, 2020, following a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. He was 80 years old.

4. COVID-19 Pandemic Boosts Cancer-Related Stress

Take a closer look at preliminary data from the 

, which found that patients on active therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as oncology care providers, have increased levels of perceived and posttraumatic stress.

3. Nurses Create a Welcoming Environment for LGBTQ Patients

Oncology providers reported gaps in knowledge when treating 

, as well as a willingness to learn more about this patient population, according to recent research published in 

2. Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Treatments Continue to Evolve

Beyond single-agent chemotherapy, few effective treatment options are available for 

, according to Candace Mainor, MD. But several approaches comprised of immunotherapy, antibody-drug conjugates, and PARP inhibitors are shifting standards of care and eliciting impressive response rates in heavily pretreated patients.

1. States Roll Back Rule Forcing NPs to Practice With Physician Oversight

In most places, laws dictate that nurse practitioners (NPs) must work 

. But now, many states currently allow NPs to practice without physician oversight. In this interview, Sophia L. Thomas, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, PPCNP-BC, FNAP, FAANP, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners explained that this advancement of the NP profession is far overdue, and she hopes that more states catch on.

Each month, we take a look back at the most popular Oncology Nursing News® stories. Here are the top 5 stories from November 2020.

Jessica Skarzynski