Best Practices in Immunotherapy Symptom Management and Patient Education
Nurses play a critical role in the recognition and management of irAEs. Current management strategies are primarily based on clinical experience from high-volume centers, and many nurses have limited experience managing immunotherapy-related toxicity. Clinician education and training are needed to manage the needs of the growing patient population treated with these agents. The NCCN Guidelines provide recommendations for managing irAEs as well as guiding principles for immunosuppression in the setting of toxicity. Importantly, these guidelines also provide guidance for multidisciplinary teams regarding clinician and patient education. Knowledge gained in this arena will support timely detection and management of potentially life-threatening adverse events.
Target Audience
This educational program is designed to meet the educational needs of oncology nurses who manage patients with cancer.
Learning Objectives
Following this activity, participants should be able to:
- Understand the scope and presentation of immunotherapy-related toxicity
- Assess patients on immunotherapy for potential irAEs
- Apply the NCCN Guidelines for managing irAEs
Marianne Davies, DNP, RN, CNS, ACNP-BC, AOCNP
Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital
NCCN Medical Education Disclosure Policy
It is the policy of NCCN that every 12 months, all faculty, moderators, activity planners and all internal planning staff participating in NCCN continuing education activities are expected to disclose any financial relationships with a commercial interest as defined by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) Standards for Commercial Support. In addition, all faculty presentations have been reviewed for adherence to the ACCME’s Standards for Commercial Support (the provider develops activities/educational interventions independent of commercial interests [SCS 1, 2 and 6] by experts on the topics).
Per the ACCME Standards for Commercial Support, individuals who do not disclose relevant financial relationships will be disqualified from involvement in the CE activity as a content developer, planner, or presenter. A complete list of individuals’ relationships with external entities is available upon request.
Definitions
NCCN continuing education considers financial relationships to create a “conflict of interest” when an individual has both a financial relationship with a commercial interest and the opportunity to affect CE content about the products or services of a commercial interest with which he/she and/or a spouse or partner has a financial relationship.
NCCN continuing education considers “relevant financial relationships” as financial relationships in any amount occurring within the past 12 months that create a conflict of interest. NCCN does not set a minimal dollar amount for relationships to be significant. Inherent in any amount is the incentive to maintain or increase the value of the relationship.
Faculty Disclaimers
All faculty for this continuing education activity are competent in the subject matter and qualified by experience, training, and/or preparation for the tasks and methods of delivery.
Faculty presentations may include discussion of off-label use. Faculty will disclose that the use in question is not currently approved by the FDA per the product labeling.
Faculty Disclosures
The faculty listed below discloses the following relevant financial relationships:
Marianne Davies, DNP, RN, CNS, ACNP-BC, AOCNP
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP: Product/Speakers Bureau
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company: Product/Speakers Bureau
Genentech, Inc.: Product/Speakers Bureau
Merck & Co., Inc.: Product/Speakers Bureau
NCCN Staff Disclosures
The NCCN Activity Planning staff listed below discloses no relevant financial relationships:
Robert W. Carlson, MD; Melissa Esplen; Mark A. Geisler; Kristina M. Gregory, RN, MSN, OCN; Kristin Kline Hasson; Rose Joyce; Karen Kanefield; Lisa G. Kimbro, MBA, CPA (Employed by NCCN until 8/10/18); Wui-Jin Koh, MD; Joan S. McClure, MS (Employed by NCCN until 8/1/18); Lisa Perfidio, MS; Sarah Sinclair; Kathy Ann Smith, CHCP; Gary J. Weyhmuller, MBA, SPHR
The NCCN Clinical staff listed below discloses no relevant financial relationships:
Jillian Scavone, PhD
In support of improving patient care, National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
NCCN designates this educational activity for a maximum of 0.84 contact hours.
Available Credit
- 0.84 ANCC contact hours
- 0.84 Participation
Price
Required Hardware/software
To complete this activity, users will need:
- A device with an Internet connection
- One of the two latest versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Safari (Internet Explorer is no longer supported)
- Adobe Flash Player and/or an HTML5 capable browser for video or audio playback
- Adobe Reader or other PDF reader software for certificate viewing/printing