the aim of the present study was to evaluate the pattern of vancomycin administration in the hematology-oncology ward of nemazee hospital, shiraz, iran. study criteria were developed to assess the several parameters involved in vancomycin therapy. these parameters include the appropriateness of drug usage, dosage, duration of therapy, monitoring for toxicity and serum concentration monitoring. ...

BACKGROUND Caring is a valuable task. The staff in any profession that involves patients' fear, anxiety, pain, and suffering may experience similar feelings. As a professional group, oncology nurses deal with patients and their relatives and caregivers under very stressful conditions. They encounter pain, suffering, and death as a part of their daily life. A number of studies have evaluated the...

BACKGROUND Very limited experiences have explored the use of pain intensity monitoring in everyday clinical practice at a medical oncology inpatient unit. METHODS The program 'Pain-Free Hospital,' including a training course for nurses and the recording every 12 h of a visual analog scale (VAS) rating in all the patients admitted to the inpatients' ward independently of their disease stage, w...

BACKGROUND Nosocomial aspergillosis is a well known complication of immunosuppression in cancer patients and those undergoing transplantation and has usually been associated with major building construction or demolition. An observational study is reported of the hospital environment associated with an outbreak of aspergillosis in a paediatric oncology ward. METHODS All cases of aspergillosis...

INTRODUCTION Pediatric oncology patients are at increased risk of contracting healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), which are responsible for increased morbidity and mortality rates as well as treatment costs.  This study aimed to identify the frequency of HAIs among pediatric oncology patients and their outcome. METHODOLOGY Pediatric oncology patients admitted between January 2009 and Jun...

General hospital staff is experienced in dealing with the death of a patient. However, aside from cases of sudden death among psychiatric inpatients, psychiatric medical staff faces such situations considerably less frequently. Many chronic psychiatric patients do not have a family or home, a situation which may become even more painful if the patient is dying of a physical illness. Coping with...