Getting Information—STAT

This issue of the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing (CJON) contains the inaugural installment of STAT, a visually compelling one-page review about oncologic emergencies or other clinical care issues that require urgent nursing attention.

The reasons for STAT are simple. The need for nurses to have accessible and timely references to support clinical practice is well established (Brant, Cope, & Saria, 2019). Studies consistently confirm that time management is a core nursing competency (Altman & Rosa, 2016). To best manage that time, nurses who have ready access to foundational clinical care content can better affect patient outcomes (Meiring, 2017).

In addition, processing and applying clinical information requires multimodality learning methods, sometimes referred to as VARK (visual, aural, read/write, and kinesthetic) (Fleming, 2017; Fleming & Mills, 1992). Keeping VARK in mind, the STAT series presents up-to-date content with pertinent text in a unique visual format. In our tech-centric, multiscreen, just-in-time culture, we are all multimodality learners, whether we attest to it or not; when content is presented in a multimodality format, information can be processed quicker (Fleming, 2017).

The STAT series also pulls together the latest evidence, mined from a morass of Internet-accessible information that can be daunting to critically evaluate. Information overload presents its own challenges in clinical practice (Altman & Rosa, 2016); therefore, the STAT summaries in each issue of CJON establish a go-to resource for CJON readers, skillfully packaged with what a clinical nurse needs to know.

STAT topics have emerged from the experience of the Oncology Nursing Society’s (ONS’s) in-house oncology clinical specialists (OCSs), a team led by Katie Wiley, RN, MSN, AOCNS®. The team’s six OCSs have joint experience as clinical nurse specialists, nurse practitioners, educators, nurse managers, and leaders.

“We are hoping that CJON readers will share this STAT information with their colleagues, perhaps pulling them out of the journal and posting them on their units,” said Barbara Lubejko, MS, RN, a member of the OCS team. “As OCSs, we are committed to providing CJON readers with resources that are based on current evidence and best practice in a quick reference format for use at the bedside and chairside.”

This installment of STAT focuses on the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) (see page 112). STAT topics scheduled for future CJON issues include anaphylaxis and tumor lysis syndrome.

“When I review ONS course evaluations, members often ask for information about oncologic emergencies,” said Kris LeFebvre, MSN, RN, RN-BC, AOCN®, a member of the OCS team. “The STAT series will provide a summary of essential information about an emergency and the evidence-based measures to address it. STAT will serve as a helpful tool for newer nurses and a reminder for those with more experience.”

To quote clinician Lynn Homisak (2012), “Time management is not about finding ways to get more done in less time. It's about discovering the smartest, healthiest, most rewarding way to use the same 86,400 seconds that you are given each day” (p. 44). STAT is one way to use your 86,400 seconds to support and advance the care you give your patients.

For questions about STAT or suggestions for future STAT topics, email Barbara Lubejko at blubejko@ons.org.

About the Author(s)

Ellen Carr, PhD, RN, AOCN®, is a clinical educator in the Multispecialty Clinic at the University of California San Diego Moores Cancer Center. Carr can be reached at CJONEditor@ons.org.