Joyce Pagan

A team of nurses at Torrance Memorial Medical Center identified developed a collaborative approach aimed at improving the cancer patient experience at their community hospital.

A new cancer diagnosis encompasses multiple physician visits and procedures, and can produce overwhelming stress for all involved.

Nurses at a community cancer center in Minneapolis described the Celebration of Life Cancer Survivorship Evening Program they developed in a presentation at the 2014 NCONN Conference.

Ongoing efforts are being made to address the distress experienced by patients with cancer and new guidelines are now incorporating this care into standard practice.

The driving forces in the evolution of health care are the aging US population, an increasing cultural awareness of health and cancer, and recognition of patients as consumers.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA—A pilot program was successful in training oncology nurses to identify meaningful changes in a patient’s nutritional status and appropriately refer patients for nutrition intervention, according to a speaker at the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) 39th Annual Congress.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA—Patients dealing with serious diseases will experience psychosocial distress. A pilot program for early screening patients with breast cancer for distress was described in a presentation at the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) 39th Annual Congress.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA—Patient anxiety was decreased and satisfaction increased by a pretreatment educational telephone call to patients before they begin outpatient chemotherapy, according to a report on a pilot program presented at the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) 39th Annual Congress.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA—A postdischarge phone call to patients 24 to 72 hours after discharge from the acute oncology setting improved patient safety and satisfaction, according to program results presented at the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) 39th Annual Congress.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA—Patient self-reporting of symptoms led to safer care for patients receiving intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) infusions in an outpatient setting. This research was presented at the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) 39th Annual Congress.