Doctor of Nursing Practice student selected to present DNP project as podium presentation at Society of Pediatric Nurses annual conference.
Kari Wheeler, BSN, RN, BMTCN, CPHON, CPN, a student in the Doctor of Nursing Practice Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner specialty, was selected to present "Including the Child’s Voice During Care: Assessing for Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting (CINV) in a Pediatric Oncology Clinic with the Pediatric Nausea Assessment Tool (PeNAT)," as a 60-minute podium session in the Quality Improvement (QI) track at the Society of Pediatric Nurses 33rd Annual Conference, Building Bridges & Making Connections, to be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 26 - 28, 2023.
Wheeler's presentation is based on her culminating DNP project, which is about improving CINV in pediatric patients with electronic Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and the PeNAT.
"Sadly, CINV is expected to occur in up to 70% of pediatric patients receiving chemotherapy, and despite advances in antiemetic therapies, patients or caregivers often describe CINV to be one of the most distressing symptoms while undergoing treatment," Wheeler said. "Often patients and families think CINV is something they must suffer through as part of their treatment. My DNP project prioritizes the inclusion of the child's voice when assessing for adverse symptoms like CINV. By enhancing the child's voice in pediatric oncology, caregivers and clinicians can better understand the impact of cancer treatment. The PeNAT helped patients, caregivers, and staff better perceive and quantify symptoms with a formalized assessment tool, while my electronic PROM survey within 24 hours of receiving chemotherapy aims to open patient-to-provider communication and offer additional opportunities to assess for CINV symptoms with nursing support when at patients are at home. Together these interventions helped patients and caregivers recognize that CINV is not a symptom to be 'coped with' but one that can truly be prevented.
"While the implementation phase of my project is still ongoing, the early results have been very promising. For example, right now I have 91% of patients reporting 'complete control' of CINV symptoms when using the PeNAT and my electronic PROM survey. Also, our clinic has seen a 33% reduction in the number of triage calls to our sick line for complaints of CINV since starting our quality improvement efforts.
"I’m incredibly excited and honored to be selected to present my DNP work at the Society of Pediatric Nurses Conference in April. I couldn’t have done it without all the support and help from my clinical site representative, Inova project team members, my DNP project faculty, and other academic mentors at Maryland. It has long been a dream of mine to present at a conference in some way, but to be chosen to do a podium as my first, WOW! Everyone around me have been wonderful mentors through this experience and I cannot be more appreciative."