To Infinity and Beyond: Developing a Nursing Cellular Therapy Program of Care

Abstract

Topic Significance & Study Purpose/Background/Rationale For nurses to be proficient in caring for patients with cellular treatment protocols, the need for a formal, standardized educational program and practice standards for nursing care is critical. The use of cellular therapy is growing beyond standard of care for malignancy and hematologic disease. Cellular therapy administration in multiple clinical care settings makes it difficult to ensure all nurses have the same level of knowledge and practice which could result in gaps of care for patients. Researchers are actively investigating adoptive cell transfer including Tumor Infiltrating Cells, Dendritic Cells, Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cells, as well as other cellular therapies. The need for a formalized Cellular Therapy Program of Care was identified to standardize education and practice for nurses within the oncology, transplant, medical surgical, ambulatory, pediatric, and intensive care specialties. Methods, Intervention, & Analysis Trends in approved therapies as well as new research protocols show an increase in use of cellular therapies. Additionally, application of cellular therapy has expanded to diseases other than cancer and encompasses multiple routes of administration, e.g. intradermal, intraperitoneal, and intrathecal. Nursing programs of care that have not traditionally administered cellular products may begin to implement these treatments. Findings & Interpretation A multi-disciplinary team developed a standardized approach for education and practice that includes; education in cellular science and chemotherapy, standards of practice and procedures on cellular administration, training in complications of cellular medicine, competency assessment, and standardized documentation practices Discussion & Implications The Nursing Cellular Therapy Program of Care is in its early stages and outcome evaluation will be measured through patient quality indicators, documentation compliance, and ongoing competency evaluation. Formalization of a cellular program standardizes nursing practice and ensures patient safety.