THE OJNA JOURNAL Issue 3 | Fall 2018 Cancer: Past, Present & Future When Your Child Male The Coolest Has Cancer Breast Cancer Therapies Th e OJNA Journal - Page 1 OJNA LEADERSHIP Editor's Note THIS ISSUE AT A GLANCE: TABLE OF Welcome back to another issue of The OJNA Journal! Mission: CONTENTS: We hope you had a healthy summer and a busy, ful- filling chagim season. Th e mission of Th e OJNA Journal is to I MAY NOT KNOW YOUR NAME, Research into cannabis, whether For this issue of The OJNA Journal, the editorial team • Provide timely news and research updates chose to feature pieces on oncology and care of pa- BUT IN MY HEART medical or recreational, is sorely tients with cancer. While oncology is a highly special- • Relay evidence-based research ized subset in nursing, a wide spectrum of nurses will I THANK YOU EVERY DAY, lacking due to its illegal status • Share OJNA news and updates come in contact with patients with cancer. From the emergency department to the intensive care unit, MY ANGEL IN SCRUBS. for many years. from primary care to women’s health and obstetrics, Editor-in-Chief: and from home care nursing to pediatrics, cancer page 19 page 7 Blima Marcus, DNP, ANP-BC, RN, OCN knows no boundaries. We are all touched by a dis- ease, either personally or professionally, which some Managing Editor: still refuse to name; a throwback to an era of stigma, fear, and superstition. Sarah Bracha Cohen, MS, RN I settled his head into a All materials explaining Oral cryotherapy CANCER: PAST, I was diagnosed with a rare cancer at the age of 22. Editorial Board: After surgery and a grueling regimen of chemothera- better position so that breast cancer to patients is involves maintaining PRESENT & FUTURE py, I entered nursing school - bald, missing half of my Tobi Ash, MBA, BSN, RN reproductive organs, tottering and shaky, but ready to rigor mortis would not written for females, further ice cubes in the mouth Batsheva Bane, BSN, CNM, RN MALE BREAST CANCER page 6 be on the opposite side of caregiving. However, I swore I would never go into oncology nursing; I hold his neck awkwardly. excluding any male patient. for a 30 minute duration Shaindy Lapides, BN, RN WHEN YOUR CHILD HAS couldn’t face others who needed to undergo what I page 21 Tzippy Newman, BSN, RN CANCER page 10 had just experienced. Nearly a decade later I have page 6 while chemotherapy is THE COOLEST THERAPIES worked in inpatient oncology, outpatient oncology, cancer research, completed my DNP dissertation on being infused. Marketing Director: page 15 an oncology topic, and I would never consider any- page 15 Aviva Gluck, ASN, RN thing else. The opportunity to hold a patient’s hand My son was six when he was diagnosed, page 2 OJNA EDITORIAL MESSAGE during a journey, as fraught as cancer, is a privilege Board of Directors: only compounded by my ability to truly be able to page 3 ISSUE AT A GLANCE Blima Marcus, DNP, ANP-BC, RN, OCN, President speak to their fears about death, anxieties over loved 16 when he died in my arms. page 4 FEATURE ARTICLE ones and hair loss, worries for their future, fertility, page 10 Nurses were being Shevi Rosner, MSN, RN-C, Vice President and little ones at home, and grief for the loss of their page 6 RESEARCH RECAP Mara McCrossin, MSN, NP, Treasurer health, stalled careers, and the overall paradigm shift excluded from planning that a cancer diagnosis forces. Chaya Milikowsky, MSN, AG-ANP-C, Secretary page 8 ADMINISTERING EPIPENS Groundbreaking research in screening behaviors and or telling patients bad page 9 HOSPICE AND HALACHA tests, and in chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immu- When I look at my body All advertising is subject to the approval of OJNA. Over the past 40 years, as news approximately page 10 CHILD HAS CANCER notherapy are resulting in radically-improved sur- vival rates for many cancer patients. With this growth today, it is not a terrible medicine has developed new OJNA Mission Statement: page 12 CANCER SCREENING of cancer survivorship comes the need for health care 50% of the time. Th e Orthodox Jewish Nurses Association was TESTS providers who are familiar with the lifelong sequelae reminder of my genetic of cancer treatment. Even more important is to en- interventions that can prolong page 6 founded in 2008 by Rivka Pomerantz, BSN, RN, page 14 SHARSHERET sure providers are familiar with screening guidelines, IBCLC. It seeks to provide a forum to discuss profes- mutation, but rather a life even at the very end, ques- page 15 COOLEST THERAPIES genetic risk, community risk, and more. sional issues related to Orthodox Jewish nurses and This issue of The OJNA Journal will provide a general beautiful result of fi nd- tions about how much needs to As far back as arrange social and educational events. We strive to page 18 NURSES TO KNOW overview of the history of cancer, some updated 3000 B.C., meet the needs of our members, promote profes- page 19 CAREERS TO CONSIDER guidelines and policies, screening information to Egyptian texts describe share with your loved ones, and some personal essays. ing a team of supportive be done have been addressed sionalism and career advancement, and be a voice page 19 MUSINGS Education, prevention, and screenings save lives now breast tumors and surgeons who believe by the gedolim of the for Orthodox Jewish nurses across the world. page 20 NURSES OF OJNA more than ever. Nag your friends, family, colleagues, and patients. Ask them about mammograms, PAP primitive versions of radical RECOMMEND Contact us at [email protected] smears, colonoscopies. If you’re brave, encourage you do not have to past generation. mastectomies. page 20 JOB POSTINGS prostate and testicular exams as appropriate. Know Follow us! what the recommendations are and direct them ap- sacrifi ce aesthetics page 9 page 4 page 21 OJNA NEWS propriately. They’ll thank you. @jewish_nurses page 23 MEMBER MILESTONES to prevent cancer. Orthodox Jewish Nurses Association (OJNA) HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS FAIL TO ADMINISTER EPINEPHRINE IN page 23 OUR NEXT ISSUE Here’s to a healthy winter! @JewishNurses Blima Marcus, DNP, ANP-BC, RN, OCN page 14 OF CASES WHERE IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN USED. President, Orthodox Jewish Nurses Association 80-85% www.jewishnurses.org page 8 Th e OJNA Journal - Page 2 Th e OJNA Journal - Page 3 Cancer: Past, Present & Future CANCER: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE Blima Marcus, DNP, ANP-BC, RN, OCN (continued from previous page) OJNA BOARD LEADERSHIP UPDATES History of Cancer made, and with the development of cervical cancer dropped by 70% Traditional Treatment to develop, grow, and evade treatment [11]. Using immuno- The board members of OJNA have been focusing on chapter Cancer is oft en thought of as a cur- the microscope, an understanding [1]. Among women being treated Modalities therapy, stem cell treatment, treatment vaccines, and other of the microcellular nature of can- for breast cancer in 1944-1954, targeted therapies help the immune system naturally attack development, creation of an advanced practice nursing committee, rent plague: new, prevalent, ever- CHEMOTHERAPY expanding. However, as far back cer helped scientists learn more only 10% lived 10 years or longer. the cancer, and make it harder for cancer cells to evade the and organizational growth and development. Chemotherapy is used for several as 3000 B.C.E., Egyptian texts de- about this class of illnesses. How- However, women being treated for immune system. reasons: to shrink tumors prior scribe breast tumors and primitive ever, treatment remained evasive breast cancer in 1995-2004 had an Side eff ects tend to be tolerable as compared to chemothera- to other modalities of treatment, versions of radical mastectomies. until the early 20th century. For a 86% likelihood of living 10 years py. Systemic, infl ammatory eff ects, such as myalgias, arthral- OJNA CHAPTERS to destroy cancer cells aft er sur- Several centuries later, two ancient time, cancers were even thought to or longer [4]. Th is improvement gias, headache, and fatigue, are most common. However, gery, to destroy cancer cells as a fathers of medicine, Hippocrates be contagious. Th e most prevalent in survival is attributed to better overreactions by the immune system may occur, triggering primary treatment, or to alleviate and Galen, coined two of cancer’s takeaway of cancer as an illness is screening, better treatment, hor- the “-itis” (infl ammatory) reactions: pneumonitis, thyroid- OJNA is developing chapters in cities around the United States symptoms of advanced cancer [7]. most used terminologies: oncos, that it was incurable. Th is fear has monal therapy options, improved itis, uveitis, hepatitis, and more. Careful monitoring can with a signifi cant Jewish nursing presence. Legal paperwork and Chemotherapy kills fast-dividing Greek for swelling, and carcinos persisted to this day, even with surgical options, and better coor- catch acute reactions and proper management is vital. applications are being submitted to the states of Illinois, Con- cells such as cancer cells; however, and carcinoma, Greek for tumors the advent of numerous treatment dination of cancer care [4]. necticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, New Jersey, and California. modalities. it also kills other cells which divide Implications for Nurses [1]. Over the millenia, many phy- Prevalence & Incidence quickly, including hair cells and OJNA thanks the members who have persisted in requesting sicians attempted to remove can- Cancer Mortality: Th en and Now Oncology nurses are at the front lines of cancer care: they Have cancer diagnoses radically cells which line the gastrointestinal chapters outside of New York and Maryland (where we are cur- cerous growths, but as one Roman provide psychosocial care, medication education, symptom Cancer death rates over the last 10 increased? Th is is a question asked (GI) tract.