ABSTRACT
Administration of chemotherapy agents can give rise to many safety issues. Extravasation of a vesicant agent causes tissue blistering and necrosis. This complication of chemotherapy administration causes additional pain and suffering in patients who are already suffering with a diagnosis of cancer. Nurses hold key responsibilities for educating patients about administration issues and following practice standards to minimize the risk of extravasation. Defining a path of shared responsibilities among team members is a critical step in assuring the safe administration of drugs classified as vesicants. This article describes a clinical practice change that is used at a large midwestern academic medical cancer center. This practice and policy change has resulted in a 90% reduction in the administration of vesicant agents peripherally, with no occurrence of extravasations in the first 6 months of implementation.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents/administration & dosage , Extravasation of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Materials/prevention & control , Catheterization, Peripheral/methods , Humans , Inservice Training/methods , Neoplasms/drug therapy , Neoplasms/nursing , Patient Care Team/standards , Patient Education as TopicABSTRACT
Administration of chemotherapy agents can give rise to many safety issues. Extravasation of a vesicant agent causes tissue blistering and necrosis. This complication of chemotherapy administration causes additional pain and suffering in patients who are already suffering with a diagnosis of cancer. Nurses hold key responsibilities for educating patients about administration issues and following practice standards to minimize the risk of extravasation. Defining a path of shared responsibilities among team members is a critical step in assuring the safe administration of drugs classified as vesicants. This article describes a clinical practice change that is used at a large midwestern academic medical cancer center. This practice and policy change has resulted in a 90% reduction in the administration of vesicant agents peripherally, with no occurrence of extravasations in the first 6 months of implementation.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents/administration & dosage , Extravasation of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Materials/prevention & control , Humans , Inservice Training , Neoplasms/drug therapy , Neoplasms/nursing , Risk Reduction BehaviorABSTRACT
There are many clinical questions that nurses may not have answers for in everyday practice. This dilemma leads many of them to look to the research for answers, guidance, or even more questions. Today's professional nurse should be familiar with common literature search methods. This article leads the nurse researcher through the process of finding relevant literature in a step-by-step method and defines common jargon related to the search.
Subject(s)
Evidence-Based Nursing/methods , Information Dissemination , Nursing Research , Research Personnel , Databases, Factual , HumansSubject(s)
Clinical Competence/standards , Fluid Therapy/nursing , Infusions, Intravenous/nursing , Quality of Health Care/standards , Specialties, Nursing/organization & administration , Certification , Humans , Societies, Nursing/organization & administration , Specialties, Nursing/education , United StatesSubject(s)
Catheterization, Central Venous , Catheterization, Peripheral , Catheterization, Central Venous/adverse effects , Catheterization, Central Venous/nursing , Catheterization, Peripheral/adverse effects , Catheterization, Peripheral/nursing , Embolism, Air/etiology , Embolism, Air/prevention & control , Equipment Failure , Foreign-Body Migration/etiology , Foreign-Body Migration/prevention & control , Humans , Infection Control/methods , Phlebitis/etiology , Phlebitis/prevention & control , Thrombosis/etiology , Thrombosis/prevention & controlSubject(s)
Catheterization, Central Venous/methods , Catheterization, Central Venous/nursing , Catheters, Indwelling , Home Infusion Therapy/nursing , Catheterization, Central Venous/adverse effects , Catheterization, Central Venous/instrumentation , Home Care Services , Humans , Patient Education as TopicABSTRACT
Peripherally inserted central catheters are the most common type of catheter used for homecare patients. Midline catheters offer a less invasive, cost-effective option for vascular access in some patients. Homecare nurses play a key role in teaching patients how to live safely with and manage these devices and must possess expert knowledge of catheter placement, standards of assessment, care and management, and potential complications.
