Journal of pediatric oncology nursing : official journal of the Association of Pediatric Oncology Nurses
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J Pediatr Oncol Nurs · Jan 2012
Review"Targeting to zero" in pediatric oncology: a review of central venous catheter-related bloodstream infections.
Reducing or eliminating hospital acquired infections is a national quality of care priority. The majority of the 12,400 children diagnosed with cancer each year require long-term intravenous access to receive intensive and complex therapies. ⋯ Substantial financial and human costs are associated with CVC-related bloodstream infections, including prolonged hospital lengths of stay and increased care required to treat these infections. The purpose of this review of the literature is to summarize existing adult and pediatric data on CVC-related bloodstream infections and explore nursing models of CVC care that may improve pediatric oncology patient outcomes.
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J Pediatr Oncol Nurs · Nov 2011
Concordance between couples reporting their child's quality of life and their decision making in pediatric oncology palliative care.
In children 18 years and younger with cancer and no reasonable chance for cure the authors used a cross-sectional study design to (1) describe concordance between fathers' and mothers' evaluation of quality of life (QoL) and (2) determine parental correlation for how factors such as hope, anticipated QoL, and prolonged survival time influence decisions between supportive care alone versus aggressive chemotherapy. Both parents of 13 children performed PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales, Acute Cancer Module, and Multidimensional Fatigue Scale. Concordance was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). ⋯ Concordance was variable across QoL domains, better for physical health (ICC = 0.46), nausea (ICC = 0.61), general fatigue (ICC = 0.50), and sleep/rest fatigue (ICC = 0.76). Correlation was variable between parents on the influence of factors on their decision, with particularly poor correlation for importance of hope (r = -0.24). Variable concordance was reported between parental assessment of child QoL and factors influencing their decision making, suggesting parents may have different perspectives in decision making and that understanding both is important in clinical care.
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J Pediatr Oncol Nurs · Nov 2011
ReviewOdds ratios and confidence intervals: a review for the pediatric oncology clinician.
Professional registered nurses (RNs) are active participants in seeking and interpreting research evidence. To facilitate knowledge transfer for RNs at the bedside, it behooves researchers to present their findings in a format that facilitates understanding. There is also an expectation that clinicians are capable of interpreting results in a meaningful way. ⋯ The purpose of this article is to describe the basic concepts of odds ratios and confidence intervals used in research. These statistical measures are used frequently in quantitative research and are often the principle measure of association that is reported. The more comfortable pediatric oncology clinicians are with the interpretation of odds ratios and confidence intervals, the better equipped they will be to bring relevant research results from the "bench" to the bedside.
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J Pediatr Oncol Nurs · Sep 2011
ReviewUse of chlorhexidine mouthwash in children receiving chemotherapy: a review of literature.
The aim of this literature review was to evaluate the effectiveness of chlorhexidine mouthwash as an intervention in children receiving chemotherapy, with a focus on randomized clinical trials. A literature search was performed between 1980 and 2010. ⋯ The review of literature included 5 studies fulfilling the inclusion criteria, in which chlorhexidine was evaluated and 4 studies showed a significant preventive effect on the development or severity of oral mucositis; the remaining study showed no benefit of using chlorhexidine mouthwash when compared with the placebo group. Ultimately, it can be suggested from the data presented here that chlorhexidine may play a part in reducing oral mucosal damage during chemotherapy for children with cancer, possibly due to a reduction in oral microflora and plaque.
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J Pediatr Oncol Nurs · Jul 2011
ReviewHealth-related quality of life of hematopoietic stem cell transplant childhood survivors: state of the science.
The notion of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) holds unique significance in the treatment of patients who have undergone hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Not only is transplant procedure inevitably associated with immediate and late medical effects along with high mortality and morbidity rates, but it can also significantly affect the HRQoL for the patient and family. ⋯ It provides information on the assessment of pre-HSCT variables to identify patient subgroups in need of more aggressive supportive care to improve HRQoL during transplant. Furthermore, it serves as a guideline for developing interventional strategies and the role of the advanced practice nurse and pediatric oncology nurse caring for the patient throughout and following transplant.