Case study of quality assurance in the administration of chemotherapy

Quality improvement project to determine outpatient chemotherapy capacity and improve utilization

Nurses in chemotherapy administration settings are constantly challenged to increase utilization while maintaining patient safety. A performance improvement project was carried out to identify barriers to patient throughput and opportunities to improve utilization while not compromising patient safety. We found ways to safely increase the number of patients from 92 to 108 per day; however, patient tardiness and staff vacancies had a negative impact on patient wait times and nursing staff overtime.

The psychological needs of patients receiving chemotherapy: an exploration of nurse perceptions

This study explored the perceptions of a group of registered oncology nurses about the psychological needs of patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy and how the nurses meet these. Eight nurses who provided chemotherapy and were working in a local oncology centre participated. A semi-structured interview was used to explore nurses' perceptions, and how they meet these patients' needs. The analysis of interview transcripts revealed that these nurses agreed that patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy had psychological needs. Moreover, they were conscious that some of the physical side-effects could have a psychological impact on the patients. Although nurses did not use any assessment tool for psychological assessment, they identified two main stages during the treatment when patients needed more psychological support: at the beginning and at the end of the chemotherapy. They explained how they tried to meet patients' psychological needs but they also mentioned several factors that influenced the psychological support that patients received.

Nursing in Colorectal Cancer Initiative--the audit phase. Part 1. Development of the audit tool

This paper describes the structure of an audit study together with the two-phase development of an audit tool and methodology. The purpose of the study was to develop a tool that defines and measures best practice in colorectal cancer nursing, and identifies areas for development. The European Oncology Nursing Society (EONS) and AstraZeneca collaborated to develop the Nursing in Colorectal Cancer Initiative (NICCI). The initiative was funded through educational grants from AstraZeneca and led by EONS. It is a project with two components, education and audit. The purpose of the project is to provide a sound educational basis for nurses in the elements of colorectal cancer care, together with the tools to evaluate and develop practice. The education phase culminated in an educational manual that provides a core set of materials concerning the fundamental aspects of colorectal cancer, to foster a common understanding amongst nurses nationally and internationally. The education manual provided the referenced rationale for the definition of a set of hallmarks and standards of clinical practice. The audit tool was developed from the hallmarks and standards and is focused on the care of patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. The audit methodology is based on the structure, process outcome triad, together with the TELER system of audit.

Systemizing childhood cancer care in Hungary: twenty-five years of progress

Steady and significant progress has been made in the organization of Hungarian pediatric oncology. This has been done through the mobilization of social, scientific, medical, and economic resources of Hungary, a small nation. The lessons learned, and the measures adopted, may prove useful to other countries facing similar limitations and problems.