Secondary traumatic stress and vicarious posttraumatic growth in oncology nurses: the mediating role of empathy.

Background: The relationship between secondary traumatic stress (STS), empathy, and vicarious post-traumatic growth (VPTG) in oncology nurses is unclear. Understanding these links is crucial for improving nurse well-being and patient care quality. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationships between STS, empathy, and VPTG among oncology nurses. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a multicentric setting. Data collection involved oncology nurses completing questionnaires assessing STS, empathy, and VPTG levels. Data analysis included correlation analyses, multiple stepwise regression analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the interrelationships between these variables. The study adhered to the STROBE checklist. Results: A total of 391 oncology nurses participated in the study. They showed moderate to low levels of VPTG and high levels of STS. STS exhibited a negative association with VPTG, while empathy demonstrated a positive direct association with both VPTG and STS. Moreover, SEM indicated that empathy mediated the relationship between STS and VPTG, with a partial mediating effect of 0.127. Factors such as receiving psychological training, educational attainment, STS, and empathy collectively explained 24% of the variance in VPTG. Conclusion: Our findings highlighted the negative correlation between STS and VPTG among oncology nurses. Additionally, empathy was found to mediate the relationship between STS and VPTG, suggesting it plays a significant role in influencing VPTG. Implications for practice: To aid oncology nurses, interventions should focus on reducing STS and enhancing empathy. Strategies like resilience workshops, peer support, and stress management can foster VPTG. Creating a supportive work environment is crucial for nurses' well-being and quality patient care.

Nurses' perceptions of compassionate care in pediatric oncology: a qualitative interview study.

BACKGROUND: Compassion is a crucial aspect in the management of pediatric oncology patients as it has the potential to enhance nurse satisfaction levels, thereby further enhancing the quality and safety of the care they deliver. This study aimed to investigate nurses' understanding and experience of compassionate care when working in pediatric oncology departments. METHODS: This research utilized a qualitative descriptive design. Content analysis was used to make sense of data collected via individual and semi-structured interviews conducted with nurses (n = 32) working in pediatric oncology departments. RESULTS: Nurses' understanding of compassionate care for children with cancer was organized into two categories: Humanistic compassionate care and compassionate end-of-life care. The humanistic compassionate care category comprised of three subcategories: (1) empathy, (2) altruism, and (3) respect for the cultural values and beliefs of the family. The compassionate end-of-life care category comprised of two subcategories: (1) facilitating parents' presence at the child's bedside and (2) creating suitable conditions for accepting the death of a child. CONCLUSION: Compassionate care for children with cancer is marked by a strong emphasis on humanistic, cultural, and end-of-life considerations. Our findings further emphasize the paramount importance of taking families' presence, wishes and beliefs into consideration within this context.

Research Priorities of the Oncology Nursing Society: 2024-2027.

PROBLEM STATEMENT: To define the Oncology Nursing Society Research Agenda for 2024-2027. DESIGN: An iterative, multiple data sources consolidation through the Research Agenda Project Team. DATA SOURCES: Previous research priorities, literature review, stakeholder survey, and research priorities from other cancer care organizations and funding agencies. FINDINGS: 10 evergreen statements articulated foundational values for oncology nurse scientists, and 5 topics emerged as research priorities for the upcoming three years: Advance patient-centric, precision symptom science; provide evidence for safe and effective cancer care delivery models and support of the oncology nursing workforce; describe the impact of the environment on cancer care outcomes; integrate patient navigation into cancer care across the trajectory; and advance the use of innovative methodologies in oncology nursing research. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: The Oncology Nursing Society Research Agenda is an effective resource for directing the organization's research vision. This foundational document directs funding awards and requests, mentorship, and policy initiatives.

Build Bridges, Not Walls: A Call for Collaboration in Oncology With PhD and DNP Colleagues to Improve Research.

Collaboration between DNP-prepared nurse scientists and DNP-prepared nurse clinicians strengthens oncology science and can potentially improve patient-centered outcomes. Many within the nursing community associate the reducti.

Confusing Genomic Terms: The Importance of Being Precise.

Advances in genomic science directly affect cancer care. Mastery of foundational concepts is necessary to understand the rationale for many aspects of cancer care, including prevention, surveillance, and treatment of malignan.

Consistent Nursing Presence Through Questionably Unprecedented Times.

Election season. Those words evoke sighs, spur eye rolls, emblazon debates, strain relationships, spark activism, and fan hope. The Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing team works months ahead of each issue. By publication, A.

Assessing and Treating Causes of Depressed Mood in Patients With Cancer.

Oncology nurses and nurse practitioners often provide initial (prior to transition of care to a psychiatric provider) or maintenance assessment of and treatment for patients with depressed mood. Research informing oncology nu.

Engaging Nurse Residents Through Poetry.

Oncology nurse residents write legacy letters to future cohorts in the 11th month as a reflection on their transition year, focusing on lessons learned and advice gleaned. This article explores poetry as an alternative to leg.

Implementing a Nurse-Driven Pregnancy Screening Protocol in the Radiation Oncology Setting.

Verification of pregnancy status prior to initiating radiation treatment for cancer is important to preserve patient and fetal safety. However, many institutions lack clear guidelines for pregnancy screening prior to treatmen.

Standardizing Chemotherapy Education to Improve Patient Satisfaction at an Ambulatory Oncology Center.

This quality improvement project implemented a standardized chemotherapy class for newly diagnosed patients receiving oncology care at an urban ambulatory oncology center. Results showed high scores on patient satisfaction qu.

Is There Space for New Graduate Nurses in Pediatric Oncology?

For my senior high school capstone project, I focused on pediatric oncology, which included shadowing two physicians. I realized that although physicians do incredible work, the nurses I encountered were so hands on and appea.

Role, education, policies and competencies for advanced practice in paediatric haematology-oncology nursing in Europe: A scoping review.

The aim of this scoping review is to describe the role, education, policies/regulation, skills and competencies required for advanced practice in paediatric haematology-oncology nursing in Europe, highlighting the differences in development between the different European countries. A scoping review was conducted following the methodological framework of guidelines by Arksey and O'Malley and the recommendations for advancing the methodology by Levac et al. We searched MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Scopus, grey literature, webpages, reference lists and performed a manual search, without any restrictions on language or time. The intersection between databases, grey literature and evidence documents traced from the sites of the most authoritative European organisations in the field made it possible to identify the regulatory and training differences between the various countries that were examined. This scoping review highlights how advanced knowledge and competences are used in the care of paediatric haematology-oncology patients, which are strictly necessary for implementing quality care. At present these competences are not recognised in policies and regulation in most of the countries that were examined. It is desirable that all EU member states work to implement a radical change and allow these more competent figures to assist patients in the best possible way.

Knowledge, attitudes, practices, and barriers of oncology nurses in promoting physical activity in cancer survivors: a cross-sectional survey in China.

PURPOSE: To explore the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Chinese nurses in promoting physical activity among cancer survivors and the relationships between these attributes and to identify the factors hindering nurses' clinical practice. METHODS: Nurses from oncology-related departments of 10 public tertiary hospitals in Shandong Province completed self-administered questionnaires that included information about demographics; knowledge, attitudes, and practices of physical activity promotion; and barriers to clinical practice. The STROBE statement for observational studies was applied. RESULTS: A total of 502 valid questionnaires were obtained. The average standardized scores of knowledges, attitudes, and practice were 75.33%, 82.36%, and 62.60%, respectively. Oncology specialist nurses and nurses who had received relevant training had higher levels of knowledge, nurses from general hospitals reported higher levels of practice, and nurses who had learned the relevant guidelines were better in terms of knowledge, attitude, and level of practice. Attitude had a statistically significant mediating effect between knowledge and practice. Lack of time, lack of multidisciplinary clinical teams, and lack of clear guidelines were the most frequently reported barriers to practice. CONCLUSION: In China, nurses have a moderate level of knowledge and practice in promoting physical activity among cancer survivors, but a positive attitude. Numerous barrier factors present challenges in nurses' clinical practice. Attitude plays a partial mediating role between knowledge and practice.

Talazoparib Plus Enzalutamide in Patients With HRR-Deficient mCRPC: Practical Implementation Steps for Oncology Nurses and Advanced Practice Providers.

BACKGROUND: About one-quarter of patients with advanced prostate cancer have alterations in homologous recombination repair (HRR) genes. In a global phase 3 study, talazoparib plus enzalutamide significantly improved progression-free survival in patients with HRR-deficient metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). OBJECTIVES: This article reviews the role of oncology nurses and advanced practice providers (APPs) in administering talazoparib plus enzalutamide in patients with mCRPC. METHODS: This review and hypothetical case study illustrate the role of oncology nurses and APPs in the administration of talazoparib plus enzalutamide and the management of adverse events to ensure safe and effective use in clinical practice. FINDINGS: Oncology nurses and APPs play an important role in the dosing and administration of talazoparib plus enzalutamide and can recognize and manage adverse events in patients with HRR-deficient mCRPC.

Increasing Oncology Nurse Cultural Knowledge, Sensitivity, and Humility in Caring for the Native Hawai'ian and Pacific Islander Population.

Stress affects people's physiologic and mental well-being. Compounded stress from natural disasters, intergenerational trauma, stigma, and mistrust of the dominant society may lead to illness and potential oncologic disorde.

Herbal Products: Considerations and Educational Resources for Oncology Nurses.

BACKGROUND: The use of herbal products, one component of the growing field of integrative cancer care, is a common yet controversial practice. OBJECTIVES: This article distinguishes nursing issues specific to patient safety when herbal products are used during cancer treatment and identifies available evidence-based resources to enhance patient and professional comprehension. METHODS: PubMed®, CINAHL®, and Google Scholar™ databases were searched for literature published between 2018 and 2024 specific to the clinical sequelae of the use of herbal products and their interactions with antineoplastic drugs, as well as patient and healthcare providers' perceptions of efficacy and safety. FINDINGS: Patients have misconceptions about the use of herbal products and are generally unaware of these products' potential contraindications when taken in conjunction with antineoplastics. Providers seldom inquire about patients' use of these products and may lack knowledge of their potential interactions with prescription medicines.

The Role of Nursing in the Delivery of Cardio-Oncology.

OPINION STATEMENT: Nurses are the "heart of patient care" and in the forefront of the health care delivery for cardio-oncology patients. Nurses play a critical central role in maximizing longitudinal health of cancer patients and survivors through the prevention of cardiovascular complications throughout the patient's cancer care journey. Nurses function in a variety of roles such as nurse clinicians, advanced practice nurses (APNs)or nurse practitioners (NPs), patient educators, managers, nurse navigators or nurse researchers. The role of nurses, particularly the advanced practice nurses as key members in delivering cardio-oncology care is evolving. However, despite the rapidly increasing growth of cardio oncology programs globally, a pivotal need remains to develop and provide formalized training programs for nurses, NPs and APNs. At present, no formal academic cardio-oncology nurse training program or certification exists. There is clearly more work to be done on the role of nurses in cardio-oncology care. As cardio-oncology evolves to become a key specialty with dedicated services being established across the globe, the role of the nurse in delivering this service is critical and a concerted collaborative approach between the two distinct specialties of cardiology and oncology needs to ensure the nursing workforce is educationally prepared and confident to treat and manage cardio-oncology patients.

The relationship between core competence and perceived professional benefits among oncology specialist nurses: A cross-sectional study.

AIM: To investigate the current state and influencing factors of core competence of oncology specialist nurses as well as the relationship between core competence and perceived professional benefits. DESIGN: A cross-sectional correlational survey. METHODS: This questionnaire survey was conducted with oncology specialist nurses working in a Grade III A (tertiary) Public Cancer Hospital in Jinan, China in March 2021. Based on informed consent, a convenience sampling of 350 nurses participated in the study, with 322 valid questionnaires collected. Using IBM SPSS21.0, the data were analysed to perform descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), multiple stepwise regression analysis and Pearson's correlation analysis. RESULTS: The overall average score of nurses' core competence was 224.28 ± 7.95, a medium level and the overall average score of their perceived professional benefits was 132.99 ± 5.05. Nurses' core competence was positively correlated with perceived professional benefits. The differences in professional title, education, working years and perceived professional benefits were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The findings indicated that nurses' perceived professional benefit is an important factor affecting core competence. Nursing managers who take main responsibility for the quality of care should adopt measures to increase perceived professional benefits, which not only promote nurses' job satisfaction and happiness, but also enhance the development of their core competence and the quality of cancer care as well. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: All participants contributed to the conducting of this study by completing self-reported questionnaires.

Communication is key: implementing the AMBER care bundle.

Claire Cadwallader, Macmillan Clinical Nurse Specialist in Palliative Care, The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool (claire.cadwallader@nhs.net), was the Oncology Nurse of the Year Gold Award winner in the BJN Awards 2024.