Her2+ Advice

[dreamriderRN]

I am fairly new to oncology and gave a new patient who will receive her first chemo on Monday.  I haven’t seen the order yet so am unsure what meds I will be giving. Does anyone know what typical regimen pts receive? Also what you would consider the main teaching points to be. 
 

Any help would be gratefully received.

[DavidFR, BSN, MSN, RN]

You're asking the impossible question. There is no typical regimen for all cancer patients. Type of tumour? Localisation? Mets? How far advanced? All these things will affect what kind of chemo she's likely to receive, and even then that may vary according to local policy and oncologist's preference.

Main teaching points with all chemo: rationale, administration, length of cycle, how many cycles proposed? potential side-effects and how they will be managed, level of surveillance to be undergone, symptoms to look out for post-chemo and when to call for help or get yourself into the ER, fertility, sex and contraception - then there will be specific points according to the specific chemo (why they'll be hyper-hydrated with cisplatin and the need to urinate excessively, why they'll be given Mesna with Ifo, atropine with Campto etc. Afraid your question needs to be a bit more specific!

Have you had an orientation period in your job?