Page 39 - Johns Hopkins Nursing Magazine Fall 2020 - Johns Hopkins School of Nursing

NEWS FROM JOHNS HOPKINS NURSING Cancer Treatment to Go “Patients love it, and some NEWS FROM JOHNS HOPKINS NURSING

say they don’t ever want to

Curbside Injection Clinics offer patients
go back to being seen in
had to adapt to the circumstances and come up
with a way to get them the care they needed while
‘drive-thru’ care with a side of COVID safety
also protecting them from becoming infected
an inexhaustible innovator, Olsen drew on her
On a hot, late-summer day, Lori Parker, oncology
experience with field hospitals to focus on rapidly
To keep both [indoor and
RN, is calm and cool in scrubs, surgical mask, and with the coronavirus.” A former Army nurse and the cancer center. We plan
building an outdoor program that could match
face shield, dragging two mobile carts at once out the level of quality care on the inside—and then
to meet a cancer patient’s car in the traffic circle recruit nurses who were battle tested.
of Johns Hopkins Hospital’s Skip Viragh Building. curbside clinics] going
She checks him in using a wristband and bar- Parker was among those hand-picked for the
code scanner and pulls up his chart on Epic, the role. And on this day, she is showing why, fielding
electronic medical record system. He’s a first-time phone calls from patients on their way to the after COVID-19 is over.”
user of a curbside injection program that allows drive-up, spacing out the arrivals as she preps
patients concerned about COVID-19 exposure— for the next one. She hustles in and out of the
or at risk due to compromised immune systems— sliding glass doors to meet each vehicle, muscling
to be treated without ever leaving their cars. In 15 the carts across the pavement, treating each new
minutes or less, they are rolling on their way. patient like the only person in the world.

Since April, more than 1,500 patients have It’s like clockwork, mostly, until another first-
36 utilized Viragh’s Curbside Injection Clinic and timer stomps angrily up to her station. He has 37
a companion site across Orleans Street at Johns misunderstood how the operation works and has
Hopkins Hospital’s Weinberg Center, according been waiting impatiently for treatment … over
to MiKaela Olsen, DNP, APRN-CNS, FAAN, an in the parking garage. Parker doesn’t blink or
oncology and hematology clinical nurse specialist hesitate at his indignation, whisking him into a
and the driving force behind the service. Health dedicated side room for treatment on the spot:
care centers nationwide have taken notice, calling one more happy—or at least happier—and now
Olsen and her team for advice on setting up their better-informed customer. “She’s a problem- Lori Parker, RN, with her mobile carts outside the Skip Viragh Building
own versions of the clinics. solver,” explains Olsen. The side room is generally
reserved for gluteal injections or other treatments
“We had to adapt to the that might leave patients feeling too exposed even teaching before administering the chemotherapy. hospital for part of each shift and says she doesn’t
in their vehicles.
circumstances and come up Viragh and Weinberg treat different types of At the curbside oncology clinics, patients may worry about the approaching winter, or whatever
JOHNS HOPKINS NURSING FALL/WINTER 2020
weather comes. “Except the wind. That’s the worst,”
with a way to get [patients] the cancers, those with solid tumors presented have blood drawn and receive injections of she says. The medicines are likewise weather-
therapy drugs, growth factors, or vaccines and
proof, with those that require refrigeration kept in
by pancreatic or prostate cancer, for instance
care they needed while also (Viragh), or “liquid” tumors (from leukemia have their vitals checked without ever leaving the a “smart” cooler that alerts the pharmacy should
temperatures rise. And a security detail makes sure
car, or whatever vehicle brought them. “We’re in
or lymphoma) at Weinberg, where a sidewalk
protecting them from becoming scale tracks a patient’s weight, which can affect an inner-city area, and people sometimes show supplies don’t walk away and that nurses work
up for treatments in Ubers and taxis,” Olsen says.
dosages. At Weinberg’s injection clinic, where
worry-free.
infected with the coronavirus.” the emphasis is more on chemotherapy, Olsen “Patients love it, and some say they don’t ever want At both clinics, other common outdoor services
chose hematologic malignancy RNs Joanna
to go back to being seen in the cancer center. We
Bautista and Erica Langton as champions. What plan to keep both [indoor and curbside clinics] include flushing central line catheters and MAGAZINE.NURSING.JHU.EDU
could at times be a lengthy appointment for labs going after COVID-19 is over.” performing dressing changes. “We’re still thinking
“Patients were afraid and were canceling and a chemotherapy injection has turned into of ways to treat more things curbside,” says Olsen. ◼
appointments for important care,” explains Olsen a 30-minute drive-up visit. Nurses complete a Parker loves the constant action, the variety of
of the impetus behind the sidewalk service. “We full assessment, take vital signs, and do some patients, and the freedom of being outside the