Laura J. Zitella, RN, MS, NP

In this interview, Laura Zitella will be discussing challenges and considerations for management and prevention of infection in the oncology setting-in both patients with solid tumors and those with hematologic malignancies.

Invasive aspergillosis is a major cause of life-threatening infection in immunocompromised patients. Nurses are well positioned to identify, educate, and monitor patients at high risk.

Through evidence-based clinical practice, research, and patient teaching, nurses play an important role in addressing infection risk, and in managing infections, in patients with cancer.

In cancer patients, anemia is multifactorial, resulting from cancer treatment, anemia of malignancy, blood loss, impaired production of or response to erythropoietin, and dysregulation of iron metabolism (decreased dietary iron intake, absorption, and utilization). Clinical studies have found that erythropoietin stimulating agents (ESAs) increase hemoglobin (Hb) levels and reduce the need for blood transfusions by 40%, with ESA-treated patients receiving an average of 1 unit less of red blood cells (RBCs) than non-ESA-treated anemic cancer patients.