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Tag Archives: lung cancer

  • NPACE Notes August 2022

    From The Director

    By: Terri Schmitt, Executive Director 

    Happy almost Fall! This time of year, the back to school, changes in schedules, thinking about preparation for fall is a great time. It’s a time to get outside, reorganize the schedule, consider new professional or personal routines, begin preparing for family and friends. Here at NPACE we are doing the same. We are preparing for the final quarter, reviewing the year thus far, and looking ahead to what we want 2023 to be like. I have to say that 2022 return to in person conferences has been such a fantastic thing to experience. Connecting with some amazing attendees, partners, and speakers has been the highlight of this work! We aren’t done yet this year!

    In Boston, MA you can shop for the holidays, see pieces of history, or eat great Italian food!  You can also join us for free workshops on radiology reading, EKG interpretation, or women’s health.

    If you need a virtual option, besides on demand, we have a $50 1 day event coming Oct, 4th!

    If you cannot join us this year, then be looking to 2023, where we are going to new places, changing up our schedule to offer you more down time with more benefits and CE, and making wellness for you a priority. Our registration will be out this fall!

    Finally, as always NPACE wants to hear from you. What do you need for wellness, continuing education, community with other professionals? We want to start more conversation. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

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    On Demand: Upcoming Labor Day Sale 

    If you have not visited the NPACE Learning Center at learn.npace.org, then you should. Engaging and expert content you need, pharmacology credits, and important topics. Be looking for more information on our big upcoming Labor Day sale! 


    August Wisdom: Monkey Pox

    by: Danielle Hebert, DNP, ANP-BC

    Monkeypox-yet another outbreak creating concern and worry amongst our patients. As of August 3, 2022, there was 6,617 confirmed cases in the United States, with higher concentration of cases noted in New York, California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Illinois (CDC, 2022). Cases are continuing to climb, emphasizing the need for providers to be familiar with presenting signs and symptoms, at-risk populations, prevention, and treatment. To learn more or to monitor this evolving situation, please go to https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/index.html


    LUNG CANCER SCREENING: A MAJOR ROLE IN PREVENTATIVE CARE

    BY: Jolene Cannaday DNP, AGPCNP-C

    On August 1st we observed World Lung Cancer Day, a day of observance that started in 2012 to help raise awareness and promote overall lung health. Many NPs work in primary care where preventative screening plays a major role. The importance of lung cancer screening is part of this preventative mindset. The United States Preventative Services Taskforce (USPSTF) currently has a Grade B recommendation for lung cancer screening via low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) for 50 – 80-year-old adults who have a 20 pack-year smoking history, currently smoke, or have quit smoking within the past 15 years1.  

    Read more…


    cigarettes

    Tobacco and Vaping

    By: Madison Davis MPH Candidate, Brown University School of Public Health

    Vaping is an ongoing, dangerous, trend among adolescents. The increase in harmful side effects associated with vaping has led to concern among providers and public health officials. A vape, or an e-cigarette, allows individuals inhale a heated aerosol that usually contains nicotine1. A monitoring study in 2019 concluded that the prevalence of vaping increased two-fold among eighth grade, tenth grade, and twelfth grade students between 2017 and 20191. It is important to observe the increase in vaping among young individuals because of the detrimental effects nicotine has on developing teenagers2. During the adolescent period, generally defined as between 12 and 18 years of age, there are critical changes in cognitive and executive function, working memory, reward processing, emotional regulation, and motivated behavior2

    Read more… 

  • Lung Cancer Screening

    LUNG CANCER SCREENING: A MAJOR ROLE IN PREVENTATIVE CARE

    By: Jolene Cannaday DNP, AGPCNP-C

               

               On August 1st we observed World Lung Cancer Day, a day of observance that started in 2012 to help raise awareness and promote overall lung health. Many NPs work in primary care where preventative screening plays a major role. The importance of lung cancer screening is part of this preventative mindset. The United States Preventative Services Taskforce (USPSTF) currently has a Grade B recommendation for lung cancer screening via low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) for 50 – 80-year-old adults who have a 20 pack-year smoking history, currently smoke, or have quit smoking within the past 15 years1. The USPSTF recommends that screening be discontinued if a patient has not smoked for 15 years, or if they have health issues that greatly limit life expectancy or limit their ability to have lifesaving surgery or treatments1. When screening a patient’s smoking history remember that one pack-year is the equivalent of smoking an average of 1 pack, 20 cigarettes, every day for one year.  On average when calculating this, I ask patients to think about the greatest number of cigarettes they have smoked daily for the longest period of time, because at times a patient’s smoking history may be varied. 

                Lung cancer was the second most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related death among men and women in the United States in 20202.  Screening is an important preventative measure in lung cancer, as many patients with lung cancer presented with metastatic or later disease2.  Lung cancer has 2 main categories of classification. The first classification is non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) which includes adenocarcinoma, squamous cell, and large cell cancers. The second classification is small cell lung cancer which is considered the more aggressive of the two major categories and has lower survival rates. Approximately 80% to 85% of lung cancers are in the NSCLC category3. Risk factors for lung cancer include smoking, which accounts for 90% of all lung cancers, and radiation therapy, environmental exposures, family history, race/ethnicity, and other lung diseases4

                Therefore, lung cancer screening is a pertinent discussion to have with your higher risk patients. Ensure that each patient is screened for smoking history, which will help determine which patients to further discuss this key element of preventative care. During the month of August promote lung cancer awareness and discuss lung cancer screening with other colleagues in your practice. Create an atmosphere of prevention and guideline-based care.

    References

    1. S Preventative Services Task Force. Lung Cancer Screening. Published March 2021.Accessed July 10, 2022. https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/lung-cancer-screening
    1. National Cancer Institute. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program: Cancer Stat Facts: lung and bronchus cancer. Accessed July 24, 2022. https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/lungb.html
    2. American Cancer Society. Key statistics for lung cancer. Published 2017. Accessed July 10, 2022. http://www.cancer.org/cancer/lung-cancer/about/key-statistics.html
    3. American Cancer Society. What is lung cancer? Published 2019. Accessed July 10, 2022. http://www.cancer.org/cancer/lung-cancer/about/what-is.html
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