Nestled between Tanzania and Mozambique in eastern Africa, Malawi is a country of more than 18 million citizens. It faces a unique cancer burden that’s proven challenging for practitioners and patients alike. With a high prevalence of HIV-infected individuals, Malawi sees a proportionate rate of AIDS-related cancers, including Kaposi sarcoma, cervical cancer, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Currently, healthcare professionals in the country face a lack of standardized oncology education and resources.
After a contentious 35-day-long shutdown, President Trump announced on January 25, 2019, plans for a temporary deal to reopen the government for a three-week period while talks continue on border security and immigration. Neither party seems optimistic that compromise can happen by the February 15 deadline, and the future is still uncertain.
Healthcare providers need to address three priority areas to improve outcomes for cancer survivors and support caregivers for patients with cancer, according to findings from an evidence review published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
Lutetium Lu 177 dototate (Lutathera®) was approved in January 2018 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat a specific group of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) in the gastrointestinal tract. NETs are rare, and the tumors produce hormone-like substances in response to signals from the nervous system.
Although the opioid crisis was formally labeled a public health emergency in late 2017, excess drug abuse beyond prescription directions has been a public health concern for much longer—since the 1980s, in fact. At the November 2018 Center for Advancing Palliative Care Annual Seminar in Orlando, FL, speakers Lynn Hallarman and Mary McPherson presented a session on how the opioid crisis came to be and what our role as nurses is in changing culture and ultimately addressing it.
Debates like the one facing the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are what American democracy is built on. Checks and balances for each branch of government—often with authority undulating back to state governments—provide numerous opportunities for policy issues to change and develop through legislative, regulatory, and judicial review. Recently, U.S.
On the heels of celebrating our nation’s servicemembers on Veterans Day, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued a report that indicated it was struggling to treat veterans with cancer because of a lack of healthcare specialists. For years, the VA has faced challenges with filling hospital job openings in all positions. The resulting administrative and oversight issues are only hurting those most in need of its services.
Neuroendocrine cancers are rare malignancies; however, their incidence is thought to be increasing. Such tumors are characterized by their overexpression of somatostatin receptors, present in up to 80% of cases. However, a novel radiopharmaceutical may give advanced practice RNs (APRNs) a new option to treat certain gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
When patients go home after receiving their regimen of powerful cytotoxic agents, oncology nurses routinely encourage them to double flush after using the bathroom to ensure that trace amounts of hazardous medication are eliminated from the environment to prevent other members of the household from being exposed. But what happens with chemotherapy chemicals found in human waste as they enter a patient’s septic system—and eventually the water supply?