Clinicians caring for patients at risk for delirium should carefully evaluate the need for meperidine and benzodiazepines in the postoperative period and consider alternative therapies whenever possible.

Purpose/Objectives Describe burden, skills preparedness, and QOL for caregivers of patients with NSCLC, and describe how findings informed the development of a caregiver palliative care intervention that aims to reduce caregiver burden, improve caregiving skills, and promote self-care. Design Descriptive, longitudinal. Setting One NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center in Southern California. Sample A total of 163 family members or friends who were 18 years or older and identified by patients as being the caregiver were accrued. Methods All eligible caregivers were approached by advance practice nurses (APNs) during a regularly scheduled patient clinic visit. Informed consent was obtained prior to study participation. Outcome measures were completed at baseline and repeated at 7, 12, 18, and 24 weeks. Descriptive statistics were computed for all variables, and one-way repeated measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test for change over time for all predictor and outcome variables. Main Research Variables Caregiver burden, skills preparedness, psychological distress, and QOL. Findings Caregivers were highly functional. Caregiver burden related to subjective demands increased significantly over time. Perceived skills preparedness was high at baseline, but decreased over time. Psychological distress was moderate but increased over time. Overall QOL was moderate at baseline, and decreased significantly over time. Psychological well-being had the worst QOL score. Conclusions Caregivers experienced high levels of caregiver burden, and report deteriorations in psychological well-being and overall QOL over time. Implications for Nursing Oncology nurses need to ensure that caregivers receive information that supports the caregiving role throughout the cancer trajectory.

Knowledge of the unique survivorship issues of patients with ovarian cancer can enable nurses to improve their care for these women.

When providing care to Hispanic patients, it is imperative to be nonjudgmental, sensitive, and respectful. To improve compliance, the multidisciplinary cancer team should 1) incorporate the patients' folk healthcare practices and beliefs into the plan of care when possible; 2) involve family members and friends in the patient's care, identifying one key family contact; and 3) ensure that instructions for medications are available in Spanish and understood by the patient and care giver. When patients' overall beliefs and values are respected, compliance with pharmacological and other interventions may increase accordingly.

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