November 16, 2020
Current medical protocols use radiation therapy in approximately one half of newly diagnosed cancer cases—and the accurate use of radiation therapy plays a crucial role in successful cancer care.
However, as the use of radiation therapy increases, it’s important to understand the risks associated with this treatment, as well. The Patient Safety Network notes that a news investigation discovered that in most cases where patients experienced serious harm, it was due to “wrong dosing or incorrect configuration of equipment, often attributable to inadequate training with new equipment, poor interoperability of systems and other human factors engineering issues.” Fortunately, there are a number of ways your facility can help decrease risk of error, including investing in the most effective radiation therapy products.
Your goal is to create a safe and comfortable environment for your patients—and we can help.
Implementing Successful Protocols
According to the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), there is a five-category process of care for radiation therapy. This provides a strong framework for healthcare providers to follow that helps ensure the quality and safety of patients undergoing radiation therapy.
The five categories include:
Patient evaluation
Radiation treatment preparation
Radiation treatment delivery
Radiation treatment management
Follow-up evaluation and care
Within the process of care, though, there is risk of inconsistencies or errors that can negatively impact overall patient care. Fortunately, there are a number of ways that your facility can help streamline patient radiology care and ensure optimal outcomes. ASTRO notes that these include:
Daily Morning Meetings: Schedule daily meetings for all of the clinical staff to help address potential issues and encourage ongoing teamwork and communication
Safety Rounds: Organize brief discussions between leadership and frontline staff to gather input and suggestions on how to address potential safety concerns
Routine Announcements: Maintain consistent communication about safety-related initiatives or share reports that summarize the outcomes of safety rounds to encourage open and honest discussions
Standardization: Limit opportunities to implement personal preference into treatment protocols, as standardization and consistent practices help reduce errors
Quality Assurance Committee: Establish an interdisciplinary team of physicians, radiation therapists, nurses and other staff members to meet regularly and identify and address health and safety concerns
Incident Learning: Encourage staff to always report safety incidents by curating a supportive environment that promotes honest discussion around safety events
Staff Training: Appropriately train staff on all devices and ensure ongoing training to keep all staff up to date with the complexities of radiation oncology
Additionally, to help manage safety concerns, ASTRO suggests that facilities should have strong partnerships with their vendors, as open communication is needed to help “users and manufacturers work synergistically for the healthy evolution of safe and useful products to maximize the likelihood of optimal outcomes.” This open communication can ensure that shortcomings are addressed—helping to continually improve radiation therapy products.
Prioritizing Patient Comfort
Undergoing radiation therapy treatment is not only physically draining, but it also is highly emotionally draining—something your staff needs to be prepared to address. In fact, in a study, 60 percent of patients had significant anxiety prior to the treatment and 80 percent had significant anxiety afterwards.
Anxiety can also occur during treatment, which can directly stem from wearing an immobilization mask during radiation therapy treatments for the head or neck. While masks are essential from a safety standpoint, they can be daunting to patients, as they very directly decrease an exit access point during treatments. The usage of masks for select radiation therapy treatments may require greater levels of patience and time investment into easing patients comfortably into treatments.
Therefore, it’s important to equip your staff with the tools and knowledge needed to help address patient anxiety. Patients have reported relying on a number of calmers, including music and visualization. Additionally, one study found that within participant-identified strategies for minimizing mask anxiety, 86 percent of participants rated “discussions with health professionals as helpful in minimizing mask anxiety.” This number is significantly higher than the 25 percent who found medication helpful; rather, participants found that medication had a number of limiting side effects, including restriction on activities like driving.
All staff members—through every step of the radiation therapy treatment—should be knowledgeable and have time allotted for ongoing patient discussions, as they are a primary way to alleviate treatment anxiety. It’s also recommended that consistent screening for mask anxiety become a part of standard patient care practices, as that can help with ongoing support of decreasing patient anxiety. Additionally, investing in the right technology that will support general comfort during treatments is imperative.
Anything you can do to help make your patients feel secure and relaxed is beneficial for enhancing patient outcomes.
Eliminating Potential Treatment Risks
While the rate of error during radiation therapy is low, there are still potential risks that providers need to focus on mitigating, including:
Communication problems during treatment
Overexposure to radiation
Wrong-site errors
However, one prominent concern is the backscatter caused by radiation hitting dental work—resulting in damage to healthy oral tissues. During head and neck radiation therapy, dental restorations, fixed prosthodontics and implants can affect dose distribution, causing localized mucositis for patients who have had dental work. A study reviewed the effect of 23 dental work configurations, finding that all-metal fixed partial dentures caused up to 33 percent dose enhancement, whereas restorations with a ceramic veneer caused up to 8 percent dose enhancement. This can lead to a significant clinical complication for patients.
To address this, patients unfortunately are often fitted with an awkward “homemade” device or sent to a prosthodontist, which can be costly and time consuming. There are professional medical devices, however, that can help.
Investing in the Right Radiation Therapy Products
Our focus at Bionix® is on continually advancing patient care by supporting innovation in the medical device industry. You want the best for your patients—and we can help through comfortable, intuitive medical devices.
With our TruGuard™ radiation therapy mouthguard, providers can experience an advanced, customizable tongue and jaw positioner that passively positions the tongue and jaw, separating healthy tissue in a reproducible way. The TruGuard is also compatible with all thermoplastic masks, and it is easy to assemble, clean and store.
This helps radiation therapy departments easily position and protect sensitive oral tissue during head and neck external beam radiation therapy treatments.
“I greatly appreciate the opportunity I’ve had to work with Bionix® to develop TruGuard™. Helping to create a product that will benefit patients undergoing radiation therapy has been an extremely rewarding experience.” – Broc T. Giffey, BS(RT)(R), CMD | Certified Medical Dosimetrist at Mayo Clinic
Our innovation in radiation therapy medical devices also includes:
FreeView™ Open Face Masks: Non-stick thermoplastic masks that offer superior positioning, ease of use and improved patient comfort—especially for patients experiencing claustrophobia or anxiety
Accu-Tatt®: All-inclusive, sterile, single-use tattoo device for patient marking
SecureFoam™ Pouch-Pro™: Unique, customizable foaming agent to immobilize patients during radiation therapy treatments
Pelvis Belly Plus System: Positioning system that comfortably positions patients while achieving greater bowl displacement
MoldCare Pillows: Customizable, single-use pillow that effectively contours the head and neck
SecureVac Immobilization System: Long-term, multi-patient-use cushions that maintain their shape during the course of treatment
Bionix®: Your Partner in Radiation Therapy Treatments
Radiation therapy will continue to progress—so it’s important that your facility is ready to embrace change. By staying up to date on the latest technologies and processes and fostering adaptability, you’ll be able to confidently achieve ongoing patient care success.
If you want a partner who can support you along the way, get in touch with us today.
