This special edition of JOPON features foundational work done by the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) Nursing Discipline to address symptom assessment in children undergoing treatment for cancer. Symptom assessment lays… Click to show full abstract
This special edition of JOPON features foundational work done by the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) Nursing Discipline to address symptom assessment in children undergoing treatment for cancer. Symptom assessment lays the groundwork for understanding illness-related distress, a key gap in knowledge currently being confronted by the COG Nursing Discipline (Landier, Leonard, & Ruccione, 2013). Approximately 80% of children treated for cancer experience treatmentassociated symptoms, such as fatigue, pain, nausea, and sleep disturbances, with each child on average experiencing 10 symptoms during their cancer treatment (Baggott et al., 2010; Buckner et al., 2014; Hockenberry et al., 2010). Despite the high prevalence of treatment-related symptoms in children with cancer, there is currently no standardized approach for symptom assessment and management in pediatric oncology. In October 2018, a State of the Science Symposium (R13CA232442 Rodgers/Hockenberry) was convened to develop expert consensus regarding the major symptoms experienced during childhood cancer treatment, the appropriate observational and biological measures to assess these symptoms, and key strategies necessary for consistent symptom assessment throughout the illness trajectory. This consensus conference, “Symptom Assessment During Childhood Cancer Treatment: State of the Science Symposium” was attended by 90 interprofessional participants representing 56 COG institutions; registration was limited to allow for strategic interactions between invited experts and participants. This edition of JOPON features articles developed from the Symposium proceedings, including
               
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