Tell us about your healthcare program within your practice. What are the costs and projected outcomes of this program?
I work at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. I serve in the Hematology and Oncology unit, which runs a healthcare program known as HOSU program. We mostly take care of sickle cell and cancer patients. We evaluate the needs of these patients through the use of chronic hematologic and oncologic disease processes. The department is split into both hematology and oncology on a 50% share basis. The oncology unit specializes in provision of chemotherapy for the cancer and sickle cell patients as well as symptom management from the consequences of the chemotherapy. Additionally, the program run by the unit ensures that the patients are given blood products and appropriate antibiotics. The unit spends approximately $100,000 annually to run the program but the projected outcome of the program is incredible. The unit projects to have a recovery rate of cancer patients in chemotherapy of 80%, subject to rise in the next five years up to 95% with increase in technology and medical research conducted by the unit. For the sickle cell patients, the unit is still devising methods to ensure that the recovery rate is increased from the current 30% to approximately 60% in the next five years.
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Who is your target population?
The unit deals with five primary categories of hematology and oncology related complications. Although the unit mostly takes care of the sickle cell and cancer patients, the target population encompasses the melanoma and angiosarcoma patients; lung cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, and testicular cancer patients; lymphomas, Hodgkins, acute leukemia, and multiple myeloma; aplastic anemia, sickle cell, and TTP; thyroid and cervical cancer; and adult and geriatric (Nadeau et al., 2017). Other conditions include anaphylaxis which is not frequently witnessed (Çakmakcı et al., 2017). The program is not discriminative of age, gender, or race of its target population in either of the disease categories indicated above. Also, the unit has no specific geographical demarcations about the patients it expects to enroll to the program, since its market is international.
What is the role of the nurse in providing input for the design of this healthcare program? Can you provide examples?
The hematology and oncology unit needed the perspective of nurses serving within the unit to build an all-inclusive and therapeutic process for cancer and sickle cell patients (Mahon et al., 2018). These types of patients mostly undergo chemotherapy sessions which tend to affect their way of life, that is, how they eat, associate, among other crucial aspects. Therefore, apart from medication, these patients need mental care which is an area that a nurse has a wider understanding about. Therefore, the nurse plays the role of designing the mental healing process for the patients under treatment. For example, a cancer patient going through chemotherapy might be affected psychologically about their loss of hair due to side effects of chemo. In this case, the nurse applies her knowledge and skills to formulate ways such as cognitive therapy to help the patients stay healthy mentally. Additionally, cancer and sickle cell patients need frequent checkups which is a responsibility of the nurse. In this case, the nurse plays a significant part in establishing proper timetables for regular check-ups and the exact therapy needed during each of these sessions. For instance, food is an essential aspect for these patients, which nurses can give guidance about.
What is your role as an advocate for your target population for this healthcare program? Do you have input to design decisions? How else do you impact design?
The HOSU program is a great platform for the fight against cancer in the modern society, among other oncologic diseases. As an advocate, my role is to ensure that this same message reaches the target population so that they can take everything associated with their condition and the HOSU program positively. Therefore, an as advocate, I have a responsibility to ensure mass awareness through most effective ways such as social media about these diseases and the possibilities for cure (Brunssen et al., 2017). The current society is corrupted with notions that cancer cannot be treated among other misconceptions which have costed many patients their mental health and their lives in extreme cases. Through running awareness campaigns and community trainings, these notions will be eradicated, thus, enrolling more numbers into the program (Vraga et al., 2017).
In terms of design of the program, my role is not directly involved with making decisions. However, I play other significant roles that affect the decisions made about the design of the program in several ways. As a nurse, my role in the HOSU program involves performing blood test, collecting blood sample, conducting transfusions, supervising IV’s, regular check-ups, and general medical care and treatment (Da Silva et al., 2017). Since, I am directly involved in these roles, I influence the design in the sense that it has to be made to ensure my shifts are well planned according to assigned tasks, as well as proper technology for blood collection, testing, and transfusion.
Program Implementation
What is the role of the nurse in healthcare program implementation? How does this role vary between design and implementation of healthcare programs? Can you provide examples?
The nurse plays the role of ensuring that blood collection, handling, and testing, check-ups, and general medical care within the program are well conducted. These roles are important for implementation process of the HOSU program. The design process encompasses formulation of guidelines for scheduling of the mentioned tasks in the implementation process. For instance, blood testing in the implementation stage is guided by a procedural protocol stipulated in the design stage.
Who are the members of a healthcare team that you believe are most needed to implement a program? Can you explain why you think this?
The healthcare team will comprise of the nursing, radiation, medical, and radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and palliative care teams. The nurses make about 70% of the team, technicians make up 10%, while the specialists make up 20%. This segmentation is based on the nature of our patients who frequently need nursing and occasional specialist attention.
References
Brunssen, A., Waldmann, A., Eisemann, N., & Katalinic, A. (2017). Impact of skin cancer screening and secondary prevention campaigns on skin cancer incidence and mortality: A systematic review. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology , 76 (1), 129-139.
Çakmakcı, S., Bayhan, T., Cihan, M. K., & İlhan, İ. E. (2018). Anaphylaxis with midazolam in pediatric hematology-oncology unit: a case report. Turkish Archives of Pediatrics/Türk Pediatri Arşivi , 53 (3), 200.
Da Silva, J. B., Moreira, S. D., Apolinário, P. P., Vieira, A. P. G., Simmelink, V. L. M. S., Secoli, S. R., ... & Padilha, K. G. (2017). Nursing workload in a hematology/oncology inpatient unit. Enfermería Global , 16 (4), 46-55.
Mahon, P. R. (2018). The social determinants of nursing retention in a pediatric hematology/oncology unit. Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing , 35 (6), 417-427.
Nadeau, K., Pinner, K., Murphy, K., & Belderson, K. M. (2017). Perceptions of a primary nursing care model in a pediatric hematology/oncology unit. Journal of pediatric oncology nursing , 34 (1), 28-34.
Vraga, E. K., Stefanidis, A., Lamprianidis, G., Croitoru, A., Crooks, A. T., Delamater, P. L., ... & Jacobsen, K. H. (2018). Cancer and social media: A comparison of traffic about breast cancer, prostate cancer, and other reproductive cancers on Twitter and Instagram. Journal of health communication , 23 (2), 181-189.
