October 2014

After more than four decades in nursing, one might suppose that infusion nurse Lillian Walsh would be at a point in her career when the job would have lost some of its luster. That assumption, however, would be totally wrong.

Several of the nation's leading oncology nurse advocates for raising awareness of the importance of safe handling of chemotherapy drugs gathered recently to discuss some of the current challenges they face in their practices, along with risk reduction strategies that, if adopted, would benefit nurses nationwide.

When nurses ask Marsha DeVita what it's like to work at an oncology medical home, DeVita replies that it's like working at an institution that nurses designed themselves.

The treatment of cancer is complex-an oncology team must monitor a patient's preexisting conditions, drug administration, side effects, and more. And, for patients with cancer, what may at first seem like a minor issue can quickly become an emergency.

Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH) currently credentials more than 400 advanced practice nurses (APNs) who practice in a wide range of roles and geographic locations. The number of practitioners more than doubled in the past 3 years, and now more than 50 APNs are practicing in oncology in Smilow Cancer Hospital at YNHH and at community care centers.

For the sixth year running, the sun shined brightly on the more than 3000 patients, survivors, caregivers, and staff from the John Theurer Cancer Center (JTCC) who gathered last month at Liberty State Park in New Jersey to celebrate life, reflect on their journey, and pay tribute to what they have achieved together.

As new therapies enter the treatment landscape for metastatic disease, the role of the oncology nurse becomes even more critical in educating patients about what side effects to look out for and the importance of reporting any adverse events promptly.

Electronic health records (EHR), which have been found to improve care and management of multiple chronic diseases in older adults, could also be customized to improve cancer screening rates in this population by integrating recommended screening protocols based on age, family history and other environmental, occupational, and behavioral risk factors (ie, smoking and alcohol use).

An oncologist who recently retired from practice told me that he retired because he couldn't pronounce the names of the drugs anymore. We can all relate to his observation that the number of new anticancer agents is increasing.