Chairside Yoga Therapy Alleviates Symptoms in Patients Concurrently Receiving Outpatient Cancer Infusions: A Promising Feasibility Study.

Purpose: To evaluate effectiveness of chairside yoga therapy on perceptions of fatigue, pain, nausea, anxiety, and distress among oncology patients concurrently receiving outpatient cancer infusion therapy. Design: This prospective pilot study used pre-/post-survey design in convenience sample of cancer patients in outpatient setting. Methods: Researchers developed and administered the Outpatient Cancer Symptom Assessment Scale (OCSAS) comprised of cancer- or treatment-related symptoms commonly reported in the oncology population (nausea, pain, fatigue, anxiety, and distress). Following IRB approval, symptoms were rated using Likert scale of 0 (not present) to 10 (severe) before and after chairside yoga therapy delivered concurrently with outpatient infusions. Qualitative data was collected related to patients' overall infusion experience. Findings: Participants (n = 82) reported positive patient experiences and statistically less pain (p < 0.001), fatigue (p < 0.001), anxiety (p < 0.001), and distress (p < 0.001) following the yoga intervention compared to baseline. Nausea was not significantly impacted by the yoga intervention. Conclusions: Yoga therapy received concurrently during outpatient cancer infusion is consistent with a holistic and integrative approach to care for the oncology population. Yoga therapy offers promise for reducing symptoms which negatively impact quality of life, including pain, fatigue, anxiety, and distress. Qualitative data suggests patients' overall infusion experience was enhanced with yoga therapy.

Standardized Spiritual Screening Increases Chaplain Referrals Through the EMR: A Nurse-Chaplain Collaboration for Holistic Acute Healthcare.

The use of a concise standardized spiritual screening process to identify spiritual practices and needs of patients is essential for holistic nursing care. This interprofessional initiative resulted in the development of a spiritual screening tool that substantially increased Pastoral Services referrals to the patients who needed them and represents a significant opportunity in the delivery of holistic nursing care. Acute care settings may benefit from the adoption of a standardized chaplain referral process housed in the EMR and completed on the frontlines by trusted nursing staff providing patient and family centered care. This standardized spiritual screening process not only triggered essential services of Pastoral Services, but also helped identify and address important spiritual needs of hospitalized patients.The ability to design a tool responsive to the evolving, spiritual needs of patients can be challenging. Through collaboration with chaplains, nurses can be instrumental in creating instruments informed by available evidence in the empirical literature. Furthermore, engaging patients as a source of data during instrument design helps to ensure the content validity and practical usefulness of an instrument. Healthcare organizations might choose to implement and further evaluate/refine the new Spiritual Screening Tool and referral process developed as a result of this initiative.

ONS Guidelines™ for Cancer Treatment-Related Skin Toxicity.

BACKGROUND: Management of cancer treatment-related skin toxicities can minimize treatment disruptions and improve patient well-being. OBJECTIVES: This guideline aims to support patients and clinicians in decisions regarding management of cancer treatment-related skin toxicities. METHODS: A panel developed a guideline for management of cancer treatment-related skin toxicities using GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) for certainty of evidence and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine criteria for trustworthy guidelines. The Cochrane risk-of-bias tool assessed risk of bias. A quantitative or narrative synthesis of the evidence was completed. RESULTS: The panel issued seven conditional recommendations for epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor rash, hand-foot skin reaction, hand-foot syndrome, and chemotherapy-induced alopecia. The panel suggested strategies for prevention and treatment for all toxicities except hand-foot syndrome, which only has a prevention recommendation. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: Cancer treatment-related skin toxicities can significantly affect quality of life. Incorporation of these interventions into clinical care can improve patient outcomes. SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL CAN BE FOUND AT&NBSP;HTTPS: //onf.ons.org/supplementary-material-ons-guidelines-cancer-treatment-related-skin-toxicity.

Therapeutic Massage During Chemotherapy and/or Biotherapy Infusions: Patient Perceptions of Pain, Fatigue, Nausea, Anxiety, and Satisfaction.

BACKGROUND: Patients with cancer commonly experience disease or treatment side effects, including pain, fatigue, nausea, and anxiety. An expanding body of literature supports the use of therapeutic massage (TM) as an adjunct to conventional therapies to manage these side effects. OBJECTIVES: This article describes patients' perceptions of pain, fatigue, nausea, and anxiety and their overall satisfaction with TM provided concurrently with chemotherapy and/or biotherapy. METHODS: In an academic outpatient comprehensive cancer center, consenting patients were asked to identify massage site preference (hands and/or feet). The licensed massage therapist delivered TM for 20 minutes to patients concurrently receiving chemotherapy and/or biotherapy. Patients rated their pain, fatigue, nausea, and anxiety pre- and post-TM using a Likert-type scale. Qualitative and quantitative data related to patients' perceived value of TM were obtained postintervention. FINDINGS: Participants (N = 58) reported a statistically significant reduction in each of the following variables.