Nurses working with adult patients suffering from advanced cancer are in a position to recognize and evaluate symptoms impacting quality of life such as anemia and dyspnea, and to identify patients who may be experiencing uncontrolled symptom management. Relying on verbal orders to manage symptoms related to cancer or treatment draws infusion center staff away from the infusion center and patient care to obtain orders from the providers. While it is necessary at times to consult face to face with providers from certain aspects of patient care, there are situations in which standing orders facilitate an improvement in patient care by decreasing time away from the infusion center by infusion center staff as well as decreasing variations between patients when standardized protocols would provide best practices acorss the population of hematology/oncology patients. When a staff member is away from the infusion center there is an increased potential to create situations where remaining care givers are relied upon to monitor additional patients along with their own patient load. When staff members are away for extended periods of time there is a potential risk for alterations in safe care. As a practice issue, the healthcare team is responsible for facilitating not only the delivery of care, but continuity of care. The purpose of this project was to educate the nursing staff on Evidence-Based Practice and implement standing orders based on Evidence-Based Practice Clinical Practice Guideline policies. This project seeks to answer the following question: Did education of Evidence-Based Practice and implementation of Evidence-Based Practice standing orders in a community oncology infusion center decrease the amount of time infusion center staff are away from the infusion center for orders related to symptom management?
