Episode 237: Oncologic Emergencies 101: Prepare Your Practice With Clear Policies and Procedures

“These policies, procedures, order sets, and algorithms for oncologic emergencies are so important. They give you knowledge in your back pocket: This is the way we’re going to treat this, this is the way to quickly respond to this, and this is the way to treat this in the safest way possible,” ONS member Cassie Durand, MS, RN, CNS, AGCNS-BC, OCN®, clinical nurse specialist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center’s Long Island, NY, regional site, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BC, AOCNS®, oncology clinical specialist at ONS. Durand discussed how to develop and apply procedures to care for patients with oncologic emergencies. This episode is part of a series of oncologic emergencies; the others are linked in the episode notes. You can also earn free NCPD contact hours after listening to this episode and completing the evaluation linked below.

Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod

Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0

Earn .5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at myoutcomes.ons.org by December 9, 2024. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of NCPD by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Learning outcome: At the conclusion of this podcast, the learner will report an increase in knowledge related to an institutional approach to preparing for oncologic emergencies.

Episode Notes

• Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.
• Previous Oncology Nursing Podcast episodes on oncologic emergencies
• ONS book: Understanding and Managing Oncologic Emergencies: A Resource for Nurses (third edition)
• ONS courses:
  • Oncologic Emergencies
  • Treatment and Symptom Management—Oncology RN
  • Essentials in Oncologic Emergencies for the Advanced Practice Provider
• ONS Huddle Cards™
• ONS Oncologic Emergencies Learning Library

To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities.

To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org.

Highlights From Today’s Episode

“Nurses who are caring for these patients getting certain infusions have such a greater sense of autonomy. They can react in a moment’s notice. You need to have an algorithm and order set in order to treat the patients so, so, so quickly.” Timestamp (TS) 07:28

“We know that following metrics is so important for checking adherence to our standards and, most importantly, for improving patient outcomes.” TS 08:23

“We all combine thoughts to figure out what the most relevant simulation would be for nurses in specific areas. The scenarios are very real-life mannequins—they’re life-sized, they breathe, they talk, they have IV access, and they portray what we want them to. We load up the mannequin software before nurses come here. In our infus