Infection in the neutropenic patient.

Infection is the major cause of death in neutropenic patients. Prevention and therapy of infection are an important, dynamic component of the care of the neutropenic patient with leukemia. Nurses caring for these patients must have a current knowledge of immunosuppression, the usual sites and causative organisms, the clinical presentation, and the treatment of infection. This knowledge then needs to be applied clinically in the care of the neutropenic patient.