Episode 269: Cancer Symptom Management Basics: Gastrointestinal Complications

“Since gastrointestinal complications are so broad, you will see these types of complications in really any oncology setting,” ONS member Kara Freedman, MS, RN, AGCNS-BC, PCCN, OCN^®, clinical nurse specialist in ambulatory GI surgery/medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS^®, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, during a discussion about managing gastrointestinal complications. You can earn free NCPD contact hours after listening to this episode and completing the evaluation linked below. 

Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod 

Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 

Earn 0.75 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at myoutcomes.ons.org by July 21, 2025. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of NCPD by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.  

Learning outcome: The learner will report an increase in knowledge related to gastrointestinal symptom management.

Episode Notes

• Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. 
• Previous Oncology Nursing Podcast episodes on cancer symptom management basics
• ONS book: Cancer Basics (third edition)
• ONS Clinical Practice Resource: Nutrition Impact Symptom Management Guide
• ONS course: Cancer Basics
• ONS Nutrition Learning Library
• ONS Guidelines™ and Symptom Interventions:
  • Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting—Adult
  • Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting—Pediatric
  • Mucositis
• American Society of Clinical Oncology Antiemetics Guidelines
• Avasopasem
• National Cancer Institute: Nausea and Vomiting
• National Cancer Institute: Gastrointestinal Complications
• National Comprehensive Cancer Network

To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities.  

To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library.  

To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org.  

Highlights From Today’s Episode

“Preparing our patients, not scaring the daylights out of them, but preparing them for what to expect and really when to contact us, not to wait until it gets too severe so that it’s even harder to treat. We really do want to make sure we’re driving this home when we’re educating our patients.” Timestamp (TS) 17:52

“As nurses, we know dietary suggestions that we can give them, but if we are finding a patient needs a little more help, reaching out to our local dietician could really help benefit the patient in a positive way.” TS 24:12

“It takes a village. You know, we are not siloed by ourselves caring for these patients. The patient will benefit from the more support that we give them.” TS 39:05

“There are many other issues and problems that occur, other than nausea and vomiting, for these patients with cancer. This can not only affect their weight and their nutritional status but their overall quality of life as well. It’s really important to make sure we are looking at the whole patient.” TS 39:58

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