Characteristics and Quality of Life in Patients with Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy / 종양간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of study was to identify how patients experienced chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) and quality of life related to CIPN. METHODS: This was a descriptive research. We collected data from 105 patients with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. They completed a self-reported questionnaire including Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (EORTC) CIPN20 and items related to their disease and peripheral neuropathy. The investigators filled in part of items about disease and treatment. RESULTS: In the study, duration of peripheral neuropathy was 9.4 month and 54.3% of patients used pharmacological or non-pharmacological interventions. Patients reported the highest score for sensory scale and it's score was 38.74+/-20.24. The scores for motor scale and autonomic scale were 21.95+/-19.19 and 26.61+/-21.0 respectively. This showed that patients more suffered from sensory neuropathy than any other domain of neuropathy. The most frequently selected two items were 'did you have tingling fingers or hands?' and 'did you have tingling toes or feet?'. CONCLUSION: The results of this study will provide useful information for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.

Job Analysis of Korean Oncology Advanced Practice Nurses in Clinical Workplace: Using the DACUM Method / 종양간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to identify job definition, duties and tasks of Korean oncology Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) and assess frequency, importance, and difficulty for each of duty and task using the DACUM method. METHODS: The DACUM committee was organized with nine oncology APNs. The committee documented the job definition, duties and tasks based on their daily job descriptions. Validity of the elicited duties and tasks was tested by a study team and 6 oncology APNs. Data were collected using a questionnaire survey from 53 oncology APNs. RESULTS: The job description of oncology APNs was identified 12 duties and 66 tasks. Among the twelve duties, 'education for patients/ families' was the most frequently performed and was the most important duty. 'Case management' was the most difficult duty. Among 66 tasks, 'providing education for patients/families' was most frequently performed. 'Providing education for patients/families' and 'assessing patient condition comprehensively' were the most important tasks. 'Implementation research' as the principal investigator was perceived as the most difficult task. CONCLUSION: In this study, Korean oncology APNs' job performances were identified and analyzed. It is recommended that job description for oncology APNs needs to be standardized and reshaped in advanced way in future.