Supportive Care

Predictors of Nurse Practitioner Prescription of Opioids for Cancer Pain: Quantitative Results

Erin McMenamin,(1,2) PhD, CRNP, Marye Kellermann,(3) PhD, CRNP, FAANP, Regina Cunningham,(1,2) PhD, FAAN, and Janet Selway,(3) DNSc, AGNP-C, CPNP-PC, FAANP

Background: Nurse practitioners (NPs) have assumed a greater role in the management of pain related to cancer. Several studies have associated adequate management of cancer pain with improved survival. Opioids are an essential treatment ...

Impact of Music on Postoperative Pain, Anxiety, and Narcotic Use After Robotic Prostatectomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Kirtishri Mishra, MD, Erin Jesse, MD, Laura Bukavina, MD, MPH, Emily Sopko, APRN, CNP, Itunu Arojo, MD, Austin Fernstrum, MD, Al Ray III, MD, Amr Mahran, MD, MS, Adam Calaway, MD, Seneca Block, MA, MT-BC, and Lee Ponsky, MD

Background: Music is a safe and cost-effective intervention that can reduce postoperative pain and anxiety. We investigated the effects of music therapy on postoperative recovery in patients undergoing robotic-assisted laparoscopic prost...

Shared Decision-Making in Managing Breakthrough Cancer Pain in Patients With Advanced Cancer

Jeannine M. Brant,(1) PhD, APRN, AOCN®, FAAN, Debra Wujcik,(2) PhD, RN, FAAN, William N. Dudley,(3) PhD, Alison Petok,(4) MSW, LSW, Brooke Worster,(4) MD, Diane Jones,(1) MSN, NP, Kim Bosket,(1) RN, BSN, OCN®, Christian Brady,(1) MSN, AGNP, APRN, and Carrie Tompkins Stricker,(4) PhD, RN, ANP-BC

Background: Pain is a significant problem in patients with cancer. Breakthrough cancer pain contributes to the pain experience, but it is often underassessed and underrecognized. Shared decision-making (SDM), where patient preferences, g...

Addiction in Patients With Cancer: Challenges and Opportunities

Gretchen A. McNally, PhD, ANP-BC, AOCNP®, and Ashley Sica, MSN, RN, CNL

Addiction is complex and multifactorial. Recognition provides the opportunity to provide potentially life-saving treatment. Oncology patients are not excluded from substance use disorders (SUDs) and the opioid epidemic. Patients with cur...

Issues in Oncology: 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting Highlights for the Advanced Practitioner

Josh Epworth, ARNP

Josh Epworth, ARNP, of University of Washington Medical Center, considers the findings of three important abstracts from the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting and reflects on how advanced practitioners can improve access and care for their patien...

Exploring the Use of Medical Marijuana for Supportive Care of Oncology Patients

Deena Damsky Dell,(1) MSN, APRN, AOCN®, LNC, and Daniel P. Stein,(2) MD

Medical marijuana, also known as cannabis, is being sought by patients and survivors to alleviate common symptoms of cancer and its treatments that affect their quality of life. The National Academy of Sciences (2017) reports conclusive ...

Methylnaltrexone: Peripherally Acting μ-Opioid Receptor Antagonist

Tanya J. Uritsky, PharmD, BCPS, CPE

Abstract Opioid-induced constipation (OIC) is a common adverse effect associated with opioid therapy, with many patients never developing tolerance to this effect. There are many traditional laxatives available to help patients combat t...

Cancer Pain Management: Opioid Analgesics, Part 2

Opioid analgesics are the cornerstone of moderate to severe cancer pain management, and do not have ceiling doses unless unmanageable adverse effects occur. Oral, short-acting pure μ agonists such as morphine are most frequently used, bu...

Cancer Pain Management: Comprehensive Assessment and Nonopioid Analgesics, Part 1

Pain is still undertreated and thus a significant problem for at least half of all cancer patients. Inadequately managed cancer pain may cause significant morbidity and even affect mortality, as well as patient quality of life. One endur...

The Passage of CARA: Implications for Patients With Cancer Pain