Onc Nurse on Call

For this episode of The Vitals , Oncology Nursing News ® met with Lidia Schapira, MD, FASCO, to discuss key advances in the treatment of toxicities that may present later in cancer survivorship care.  Schapira is a professor of medicine and director of the Cancer Survivorship Program at Stanford. Schapira specializes in breast cancer with a focus on the psychosocial aspects of cancer care and issu...

For this episode of The Vitals , Oncology Nursing News ® spoke with Sri Kota, MSN, BA, RN, OCN, a nurse clinician with the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, about important updates in the breast cancer treatment paradigm for nurses to consider. The increasing availability of options for patients with metastatic disease is exciting, said Kota, with promising drugs such as fam-trastuzumab deru...

In this episode of The Vitals, Donna Herrera Bell, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, highlights how nurses can eliminate barriers to fertility discussions among adolescent and young adult patients with cancer. Bell spent 14 years working with children and adolescents with leukemia and lymphoma as well as helped develop a Pediatric Onco-Fertility consult service with MD Anderson. She recently presented at the 47th...

Loyda E. Braithwaite, MSN, RN, AGPCNP-BC, AOCNP, an oncology nurse practitioner at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, provides an overview of the evolving treatment landscape in hormone receptor–positive breast cancer. Braithwaite highlights the emerging role of selective estrogen receptor degraders, selective estrogen receptor modulators, and updates on aromatase inhibitors within...

For this episode of “The Vitals,” Oncology Nursing News ® spoke with Heidi Donovan, PhD, RN, professor of nursing and medicine, and co-director of the National Center on Family Support, at the University of Pittsburgh. Donovan recently co-led a study evaluating the utility of an online symptom management tool for women with recurrent ovarian cancer.  The study, which was published in the Journal o...

For this episode of “The Vitals,” Oncology Nursing News ® spoke with Hamid Emamekhoo, MD, an assistant professor of the Division of Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care with the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center.  Emamekhoo offers a snapshot of recent advances in kidney cancer treatments, an overview of caring for patients receiving immunotherapy and TKI combinations, and w...

In this episode of “The Vitals,” we spoke with Caitlin Benda, MBA, MS, RD, CSO, LDN , a clinical oncology nutritionist supervisor at American Oncology Network, about dietary strategies to support patients undergoing curative cancer therapies.  Throughout our conversation, Benda discussed how nurses can help change a patient’s approach to diet in order to combat complications brought about by nause...

In this episode of “The Vitals,” Oncology Nursing News ® met with Matt Iwaniec, PsyD, a licensed clinical health psychologist with the stem cell transplant and CAR-T therapy program at Allegheny Health Network, to discuss fully integrated behavioral services as it relates to oncology. In our discussion, Iwaniec highlights the mechanisms behind psychosocial treatments like cognitive behavior therap...

In this episode of “The Vitals,” Oncology Nursing News ® met with Mark Honor, PA-C, Department of Malignant Hematology, Moffitt Cancer Center, to discuss managing adverse events (AEs) related to cancer therapies. In our conversation, we discuss the different mechanisms of action of today’s most popular therapeutic options, and best principles for responding to adverse events in patients receiving...

In this special episode of “The Vitals,” Oncology Nursing News ® and CURE ® Magazine met with Janice Post-White, PhD, RN, FAAN, to discuss her recently published book, “Standing at Water’s Edge.” Post-White was an oncology nurse when her 4-year-old son, Brennan, was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Throughout our discussion, she reflects on the intersections of her professional...

For this episode of “The Vitals,” we spoke with Patricia Jakel, MN, RN, AOCN, University of California Los Angeles Health, and Elspeth Knill-Selby, a nurse practitioner in breast surgery at Yale University School of Medicine. The 2 experts discuss the rewards of mentorship—from both a providing and receiving perspective, as well as the importance of nurturing young nurses as they transition to acu...

For this episode of “The Vitals,” we spoke with Nikki Urban, a registered nurse and practice manager at Allegheny Health Network, about the implementation of a successful phone triage program at the oncology institution. Urban discusses why the program came about, some of its successes, and how a phone triage program can bring value to an oncology center. “The phone triage process is a patient-cen...

Cisplatin is a life-saving drug, says Bruce Carleton, PharmD, FCP, FISPE. However, although the drug has lifesaving benefits, it also causes some degree of hearing loss in about 60% of children who receive this therapy. Furthermore, about 40% of children who receive cisplatin require hearing aids for the rest of their lives as a result of treatment. In this episode of “The Vitals,” Carleton, of th...

For this episode of “The Vitals,” we spoke with Christopher Zorn, clinic operations administrator of Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University, and Gianna Bayci, RN, of the University of Chicago Medicine, about how to foster a safe, yet festive, holiday environment in oncology clinics and floors.  The 2 experts discuss talking to patients about their approach to family gatherings, incorporating...

For National Hospice and Palliative Care Awareness Month, Joe Contreras, MD, spoke to Oncology Nursing News® about some common misconceptions between the 2 and how oncology nurses can more effectively speak with their patients about palliative care. 

“It is not a ‘one and done kind of thing.” It is very important to implement these skills throughout the community. It's a practice. It's a behavioral change.”

For this episode of “The Vitals,” we spoke with Kristin Barber, FNP-BC, AOCNP, Huntsman Cancer Institute, about understanding the MAP kinase signaling pathway and some of the ongoing trials targeting these mutations in gastrointestinal oncology.  Barber discussed some of the ongoing phase 1 trials she is participating in and how she hopes the results of these trials could change patient outcomes f...

For this episode of “The Vitals,” we spoke with Martin Dietrich, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Central Florida, a fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a medical oncologist at Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute. Dietrich highlighted some recent advances and ongoing research in stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and disc...

For this episode of “The Vitals,” we spoke with Chastity Washington, MPH, CHES, Center for Cancer Health Equity, Ohio State University, about how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated preexisting disparities in cancer care. Chastity spoke to our team about the direct and indirect impacts of COVID 19 on disadvantaged communities, vaccine hesitancy amongst those communities, and more. 

For this episode of “The Vitals,” Oncology Nursing News spoke with Eloise Theisen, RN, MSN, AGPCNP-BC, current president of the American Cannabis Nurses Association (ACNA). She spoke to us about some the benefits and applications of medical cannabis for patients with cancer, some of the challenges and interesting updates in research, and how nurses can talk to their patients about its use, as well...

For this episode of “The Vitals,” we spoke with Cynthia Ingram, BS, RN, HN-BC, COHN-S, animal therapy coordinator, CTCA Chicago. She talked about how she pursued her dream to bring animal therapy to patients in her care center and how, together, her and her furry companion, Tori, touched the lives of many patients and caregivers and brought a little bit of joy to their day.

In this episode, we spoke to Chevon Rariy, MD, medical director of Endocrinology at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) Chicago, and the Telehealth Program director for the CTCA, about the impact of COVID-19 on telehealth programs, the creation of the in-home infusion program, and what these changes will look like for the nurses caring for these patients. 

After hearing about the difficulties a transgender man faced in receiving a cancer diagnosis, Kelly S. Haviland, PhD, FNP-BC, found her calling. In this episode, Haviland, nurse research scientist and family nurse practitioner at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses how LGBTQ treatment has changed over the years, though there is still much more work to be done.    Read more: https://w...

Music can help alleviate stress and bring something familiar into an unfamiliar medical procedure.    In this episode, we spoke with Laura Schandert, AGPCNP-BC, nurse practitioner at Duke University School of Nursing, about her recent experiment in using music to calm the nerves of patients with blood cancers undergoing bone marrow procedures.