Recipients of ONS Foundation Funding

Norma Kay Krumwiede, EdD, RN

"Understanding Family Experience of Neutropenia," led by primary investigator Norma Kay Krumwiede, EdD, RN, studied rural families' experience of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN). The qualitative study-accomplished over 18 months from conception to manuscript-identified how families understand and manage the experience of CIN. The study involved semistructured interviews with seven families (21 individuals) that had family members experiencing CIN.

"Neutropenia is a significant event within the whole of the cancer experience for the family," Krumwiede said. "The depth of meaning expressed by families during a short interview was humbling and overwhelming at times with 432 pages of transcript to read, analyze, and synthesize."

The study reported that because of patients' neutropenia, family members had tempered their feelings about hope for patients to be cured. The study found that, during the neutropenic period, family members respond with protective behaviors toward the neutropenic patient. These behaviors led to a reframed sense of family integrity with more intensified connections within the family. The study also identified nurses, physicians, and community members as significant in the family's construction of the meaning of neutropenia. The neutropenia study findings have contributed to development of the Family Cancer Care Protocol for Neutropenia, which includes assessment and intervention strategies ideally implemented by a family nurse assigned to a patient and family.

Amgen has underwritten this neutropenia study and others through the ONS Foundation Center for Leadership, Information and Research (CLIR). According to Krumwiede, the CLIR grant has allowed the Family Nursing Research Team to clarify its focus, increase the number of team members, and bring in consultants when needed. Because the grant supported an interdisciplinary team, one of the outcomes from the research is validation of the worth of such a team. With external funding, team members could participate fully in the project, dedicating time and attention to the work of the project.