31. 5-FU Self-Disconnects

Background: We have approximately 358 of patients that go home with continuous chemotherapy of 5-FU infusing through a central venous access device. We treat patients from 15 counties in NY. Some of these patients live out in the rural areas of town and if unable to get home care they need to drive out to the Wilmot Cancer Institute. Another factor for the patients is having to wait for the nurse to come to disconnect them. Due to the limited staff on the weekends, the patient may have to wait 1-2 hours to be disconnected.

Purpose: To increase the number of patients to self-disconnect themselves from their chemotheray.

Methods: We have a procedure that we follow for the education of our patients to self-disconnect, this includes teaching sheets, videos, and resources available for questions around the chemotherapy pump. Through surveys we found that the patients self-disconnecting like being able to self-disconnect themselves and feel they have the resources they need if something were to go wrong.

Results: Evaluation: Some of the comments, Enthusiastic and positive about the experience; felt the step-by-step instructions were very helpful; along with having a person who can help if needed; Husband does disconnect, “it’s very easy”, less appointments and easier not having someone come to the house; Better experience than going to a facility; Its was a learning curve, but is easy; “Felt Empowered” having some control with the disease and it is less stressful.

Discussion: Having the patients empowered to safely self-disconnect themselves decreases the need for home care and the decreases the patient load from the infusion center. Empowering patients to self-disconnect from their chemotherapy infusions represents a significant innovation in patient care. This approach enhances patient competence by giving them the skills and confidence to manage their treatment, fostering a greater sense of control over their health.

Conclusions: This is an ongoing initiative in the Wilmot Cancer Center. We have seen our numbers of patient self-disconnecting slowly increasing and the surveys have all been positive.