Dry heat application decreases the likelihood of multiple IV insertion attempts and procedure time and is comfortable, safe, and economical to use in an outpatient oncology setting.

The majority of survey respondents reported on the importance of discussing sexual concerns with patients, lacked sexual health training, and were uncomfortable discussing sexual health with patients. Focus group participants wanted access to timely information during treatment, online educational resources, and brochures and handouts; involvement of significant others; support from providers, peers, and survivors; and expert consultation.

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Graduate nurses (GNs) are a major part of hospital recruitment. Forty-two percent of new hires are likely to be GNs. Many GNs feel ill prepared in intravenous (i.v.) catheter insertion and central line care. The purpose of this evidence-based practice project was to determine if an i.v. skills workshop would have a positive impact on GNs' comfort and skills. Casey-Fink Graduate Nurse Experience Survey data indicate that 29% of graduate nurse residents participating in the first cohort of this workshop list i.v. skills as most challenging. Postsurvey data showed that GN comfort level improved. Supporting the GN in this challenging transition by providing focused education and skills practice may alleviate this discomfort.

BackgroundIn recent years attention has focused on γH2AX as a very sensitive double strand break indicator. It has been suggested that γH2AX might be able to predict individual radiosensitivity. Our aim was to study the induction and repair of DNA double strand breaks labelled by γH2AX in a large cohort.MethodsIn a prospective study lymphocytes of 136 rectal cancer (RC) patients and 59 healthy individuals were ex vivo irradiated (IR) and initial DNA damage was compared to remaining DNA damage after 2 Gy and 24 hours repair time and preexisting DNA damage in unirradiated lymphocytes. Lymphocytes were immunostained with anti-γH2AX antibodies and microscopic images with an extended depth of field were acquired. γH2AX foci counting was performed using a semi-automatic image analysis software.ResultsDistinct increased values of preexisting and remaining γH2AX foci in the group of RC patients were found compared to the healthy individuals. Additionally there are clear differences within the groups and there are outliers in about 12% of the RC patients after ex vivo IR.ConclusionsThe γH2AX assay has the capability to identify a group of outliers which are most probably patients with increased radiosensitivity having the highest risk of suffering radiotherapy-related late sequelae.