Chemotherapy-Induced Neuropathy: More Than Just Pins and Needles

When I was in graduate school, I worked as a chemotherapy nurse. Patients would often talk about the side effects of the medications. One of the most bothersome was the peripheral neuropathy that caused numbness and tingling—the “pins and needles”—and often cramping, pain, and weakness that made walking difficult.

Assessing and managing CIPN as well as educating patients.

This month, Robert Knoerl’s article, “Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy” (CIPN), provides a review of “strategies to use in assessing, managing, and educating patients who are at risk for or are experiencing CIPN.” He notes that CIPN affects 68% of patients receiving many commonly used drugs for cancer treatment and can begin as early as the first treatment and continue long after treatment ends, resulting in months of debilitating symptoms.

Although certain classes of medication may help alleviate symptoms in some patients, there are no medications approved specifically for treating CIPN. There is, however, some evidence that exercise can help mitigate the effects. […]

2021-04-22T07:29:29-04:00April 19th, 2021|Nursing|0 Comments
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AJN April Issue Highlights: Chemotherapy-Induced Neuropathy, a Primer on ‘Big Data’ and Machine Learning, More

“Nurses need to be out in the community—in schools, libraries, senior centers, wherever our neighbors gather—to help address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and ensure that people have accurate information.”—editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy in her editorial, “A Most Welcome Spring”

The April issue of AJN is now live. Here’s what’s new. Some articles may be free only to subscribers.

CE: Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy

The author reviews common CIPN symptoms and outlines strategies nurses can use to assess, manage, and educate patients at risk for or already experiencing this frequent complication of neurotoxic chemotherapy.

CE: Nursing Orientation to Data Science and Machine Learning

A primer on how ‘big data’ and new analytic models are transforming nursing—including the opportunities and implications for nurses in various roles.

Cultivating Quality: Continuous Physiological Monitoring Improves Patient Outcomes

How a nurse-led initiative used wearable digital devices to enhance patient surveillance and better identify early signs of patient deterioration, thereby reducing rapid response team calls and ICU transfers.
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2021-03-29T07:44:48-04:00March 29th, 2021|Nursing|0 Comments
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AJN’s December Issue: Working During a Pandemic, HIV Foot Care, Healing Pet Visits, a Focus on Narrative

AJN1213.Cover.OnlineAJN’s December issue is now available on our Web site, just in time for some holiday reading. Here’s a selection of what not to miss.

Working during a pandemic. Flu season is in swing, but how do nurses feel about working during a flu pandemic? Researchers investigating terrorism and catastrophic events found that up to 96% of health care workers reported being unable or unwilling to work during some emergencies, with some infectious diseases associated with the highest rates of unwillingness. “Predictors of Nurses’ Intentions to Work During the 2009 Influenza A (H1N1) Pandemic,” December’s original research CE, suggests that providing adequate resources during an emergency (such as personal protective equipment) will not only ensure the safety of patients, nurses, and nurses’ families, but may also increase nurses’ willingness to work in times of crisis. Earn 2.5 CE credits by reading this article and taking the test that follows. If you’re reading AJN on your iPad, you can listen to a podcast interview with the author by clicking on the podcast icon on the first page of the article. The podcast is also available on our Web site.

HIV foot care. Peripheral neuropathy, which causes debilitating symptoms such as burning pain and sensation loss in the foot, continues to be prevalent in people with HIV, but is often overlooked. “HIV Peripheral Neuropathy and Foot Care […]

2016-11-21T13:05:57-05:00November 27th, 2013|nursing perspective, nursing research|0 Comments
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Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
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