Journal of pediatric oncology nursing : official journal of the Association of Pediatric Oncology Nurses
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J Pediatr Oncol Nurs · Jan 2009
Complementary and alternative medicine use in children with cancer and general and specialty pediatrics.
The objective of this survey is to determine the frequency, reasons, and factors influencing use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in general and specialty pediatrics within the same geographic area. Of the 281 surveys completed, CAM use was higher in children with epilepsy (61.9%), cancer (59%), asthma (50.7%), and sickle cell disease (47.4%) than in general pediatrics (36%). Children most often used prayer (60.5%), massage (27.9%), specialty vitamins (27.2%), chiropractic care (25.9%), and dietary supplements (21.8%). ⋯ Most parents (62.6%) disclosed some or all of their child's use of CAM to providers. This study confirms that within the same geographic region, children with chronic and life-threatening illness use more CAM therapies than children seen in primary care clinics. Children with cancer use CAM for different reasons than children with non-life-threatening illnesses.
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J Pediatr Oncol Nurs · Jul 2008
Antibiotics in 30 minutes or less for febrile neutropenic patients: a quality control measure in a new hospital.
Infections are the most common complication in patients receiving treatment for cancer with neutropenia being the primary risk factor for the development of an infection. In the neutropenic patient, bacteremia remains a significant cause of mortality. Although the literature reports that prompt empiric antibiotic therapy to prevent death caused by virulent organisms is the standard of care, the literature fails to identify what prompt antibiotic administration means. ⋯ Initially, door/fever-to-patient time was significantly delayed. Collaboration between pharmacy, hospital bed control, medical, and nursing staff resulted in many changes in practice by all groups. As a result, the goal for prompt antibiotic delivery of thirty minutes or less is now achievable.
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Telling stories about deceased patients to supportive peers is frequently mentioned as an activity used for meaning-making in anecdotal reports of clinical practice and the literature addressing nurses' experiences caring for dying children. This study examines peer-supported storytelling for grieving pediatric oncology nurses using a mixed methods single-group descriptive repeated measures design. Participants were 6 registered nurses from a tertiary care pediatric hospital inpatient oncology unit who self-identified as experiencing grief. ⋯ Sessions were audio-recorded. Participants reported (1) receiving and providing support during sessions; (2) that sessions had an impact on their grief; (3) that sessions had an impact on their meaning-making, and the explicit session focus on making sense of and identifying benefit in their experiences was particularly helpful. There was a significant positive correlation between participant report of number of special patient deaths during career and impact of sessions on grief.
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J Pediatr Oncol Nurs · Jan 2008
An exploratory survey of nurses' perceptions of phase I clinical trials in pediatric oncology.
This study suggests that nurses' perceptions of pediatric oncology phase I clinical trials are diverse and mixed but are more likely to be positive than negative. Improving future treatments, medical benefit, improved quality of life, and hope were cited as potential benefits of phase I clinical trials, but nurses felt that families were hoping for a cure. Toxicities, false hope, and decreased quality of life were perceived as potential negative outcomes. ⋯ Younger or less experienced nurses were more likely to report either positive or negative perceptions, whereas older or more experienced nurses expressed mixed or moderate perceptions. Inpatient nurses reported more negative perceptions compared with outpatient nurses. The respondents report that caring for patients on phase I had both positive and negative effects on their quality of nursing work life.
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J Pediatr Oncol Nurs · Nov 2007
Comparative StudyEffect of the clinical support nurse role on work-related stress for nurses on an inpatient pediatric oncology unit.
High patient acuity, heavy workload, and patient deaths can all contribute to work-related stress for pediatric oncology nurses. A new leadership role, the clinical support nurse (CSN), was recently initiated on the oncology unit of a large Canadian pediatric hospital to support frontline staff and reduce some of the stresses related to clinical activity. ⋯ A total of 58 nurses participated in this study for a response rate of 86%. The results show that the intensity of work-related stress experienced by nurses in this study is significantly less (P < .001) on shifts staffed with a CSN compared with shifts without a CSN.