These preliminary findings are encouraging and suggest beneficial effects of interactive music therapy with hospitalized pediatric hematology/oncology patients. In future studies replicating these findings should be conducted in a randomized control trial.

Increasingly, there is a trend to deliver chemotherapy, where possible, in the outpatient ambulatory setting. In the few studies that have explored the setting of cancer care, long wait times are frequently linked to dissatisfaction. Several factors contribute to lengthy waiting times for patients and their families: long registration processes, lag times associated with obtaining laboratory results, time required for patient assessments and preparation of chemotherapeutic agents, adequacy of nursing resources, and physical space constraints in relation to patient volumes. With the goal of improving care delivery in the outpatient clinic, a fast-tracking system was established. Program planning included establishing patient eligibility criteria, protocol and treatment appropriateness, interdepartmental collaboration, development of a communication plan for families and staff, negotiation of physical space, and allocation of human resources. This was instituted by re-allocating existing resources and establishing an autonomous nurse-managed chemotherapy clinic. This fast-tracking program has enabled us to use our existing resources with greater efficiency and improve patient care from safety and quality-of-life perspectives for those included in the program.

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