June 28, 2022

You are the oncology nurse caring for Maria, who has been diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). She says she doesn’t understand how she developed lung cancer because she has always lived a clean lifestyle according to her religious practices. You notice that although Maria is initially conversant with you, she allows her husband to speak for her whenever he is present. When you mention your observation to Maria, she tells you that in her religious culture, medical decisions are deferred to the high elders of the church.

June 27, 2022

On June 22, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported Becton, Dickinson and Company’s (BD’s) voluntary recall of its intraosseous needle set kits, manual driver kits, and powered drivers. Use of the products could lead to needlestick injuries or delays in care because of limited or non-functioning intraosseous access.

June 27, 2022

More than a year and a half after a report suggesting a potential racial bias in pulse oximeter technology first surfaced as a letter to the editor in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), on June 21, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that it is continuing its investigation into the devices’ accuracy and performance, particularly among people of color.

June 24, 2022

My world changed on December 22, 2021. It is a day I will never forget: the day I tested positive for COVID-19. For nearly two years, all while caring for patients with the virus, I avoided contracting it. I prided myself on mask-wearing, handwashing, and social distancing, but what we know all too well is that COVID-19 does not discriminate.

June 20, 2022

Samuel, a 55-year-old patient with a history of T3N1M0 oropharyngeal HPV+ cancer on the base of his tongue, underwent surgery followed by 70 Gy of intensity-modulated radiation over seven weeks with concurrent weekly cisplatin. He responded well and had a positron emission tomography (PET) scan three months post-treatment that showed no cancer. Two months later, Samuel calls the triage line to report swelling on the left side of his neck, the same area where he first noticed a lymph node that led to his initial diagnosis.