Lisa Schulmeister, MN, RN, FAAN

Emergency department (ED) visits are more common among older adults with diabetes. Oncology nurses need to be alert to patients with cancer who also have diabetes, and make sure they have the information they need to prevent unnecessary ED visits.

A group of researchers in the northeast United States conducted a study to explore how women become informed about breast cancer surgery options.

Breast cancer survivors who exercise could reduce their risk of cardiovascular events, stroke, and diabetes, study shows.

Although steps have been taken to improve patient safety, patient identification errors can go undetected.

ASCO releases its annual report highlighting progress, trends, and future directions in cancer practice and research.

Survivors of childhood cancer could be up to 20 times more likely to develop ischemic heart disease or to have strokes than their siblings. To determine their level of risk, researchers used a prediction model that included factors like gender, type of chemotherapy, and radiotherapy exposure to the head, neck, or chest.

The fight against cancer has gotten tougher because of shortages of drugs and minibags. At cancer treatment facilities across the country, pharmacy and nursing staff sometimes even have to identify alternate preparation and administration techniques when a drug is unavailable and minibags are in short supply.

Smoking prevention programs need to include warnings that the risk of “trying” a cigarette can lead to daily smoking, and that 69% of people in global survey data who have tried a cigarette became smokers.

Eighty percent of hospitalized patients in the U.S. have access to palliative care services. But that means that 20% do not. For patients with cancer, this can potentially mean the difference between effective symptom management and end-of-life care, and inadequate usual care.

To ensure the adequate availability of IV solutions that may be in high demand during the flu season, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) extended the expiration dates of some IV products after Baxter, a major IV solution manufacturer, submitted safety data that indicated that extended expiration dates meet FDA safety standards.

The first large, multicenter trial to investigate the effect of acupuncture in treating aromatase inhibitor-induced joint symptoms in women with breast cancer reported a statistically significant reduction in pain with acupuncture use.

There is a growing subgroup of people with cancer who have survived a prior cancer. Often, these patients are excluded from clinical trials and underrepresented in research, researchers noted.