Nursing Care for Cancer Patients Essay

Nursing Care for Cancer Patients Essay

HUM410 – Academic Success: Strengthening Scholarly Writing

 

Abstract

Cancer is a leading cause of death globally. It contributes to about ten million deaths annually. Approximately eighteen million new cancer cases are diagnosed globally every year. For every 100 000 men and women, 190 are diagnosed with cancer annually. Eighty percent of the cancer burden is found in developing countries. The heavy burden of cancer on the healthcare system calls for a better understanding of nursing care for cancer patients. Nursing care is essential for healthcare professionals since nurses are the most significant task force and are closest to cancer patients. Thus, understanding nursing care for cancer patients will enhance the quality of care the interprofessional team provides and promote better health outcomes for cancer patients. This paper explores nursing care for cancer patients and the various nursing interventions for cancer patients. Nursing care for cancer patients will be analyzed using a literature review and an in-depth synthesis of available literature. The literature will be evaluated based on the level of evidence being current. The findings of this paper will help inform evidence-based interventions in nursing care for cancer patients.

Nursing Care for Cancer Patients

Cancer is a group of diseases that involve uncontrollable cellular growth and maturation. Cancers can develop from any body tissue, with the manifestations resulting from the inability to control the proliferation and development of cells. Cancer patients require various care services ranging from pain management to emotional support. Nurses play a huge role in handling cancer patients. Nurses develop care plans used for cancer patients. The care plans involve pain management, support for therapies, emotional support, nutritional promotion, and various assessments. They also develop care interventions and are responsible for giving the rationale of the intervention to the patients and other interprofessional team members. This essay focuses on the various nursing interventions for cancer patients and the role of nursing care on cancer patients.

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Literature Review

The search for existing literature on nursing care and interventions has been drawn from reputable databases and journals. The selected sources were only peer-reviewed and searched using the google scholar search engine. The search was customized to produce results from the current (published within the last five years) peer-reviewed sources using the search phrase, nursing care and nursing interventions for cancer patients. Information from reputable government websites such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention was also incorporated in the literature review for current statistics and cancer trends.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.), different types of cancers require different treatments, thus particular nursing interventions. Cancer survivor is the term given to cancer patients from the time they are diagnosed throughout their lives. Surviving cancer is heavily dependent on nursing care and interventions. Nursing interventions should encompass emotional, mental, physical, and social support. They also involve cancer treatment side effects, follow-up treatment, the risk of cancer reoccurrence, and the quality of life (CDC.gov, n.d.). Therefore, nursing care for cancer patients is vital.

The National Cancer Institute has outlined the general guidelines that oncology nurses use to develop care plans and nursing interventions. It also shows the statistical trends in cancer, thus helping healthcare professionals understand the impact of cancer on society and the healthcare system. Collaboration between cancer patients, their caregivers, and the nurses is essential in ensuring better health outcomes and reducing the cancer burden (The National Cancer Institute, n.d.)

Cancer is among the leading causes of death globally due to the many risk factors such as an aging society, physical inactivity, obesity, and smoking, among others. Thus, nursing care for cancer patients is an essential part of nursing. According to Frith and Chao (2022), high-quality nursing care is required for cancer patients, from preventive to palliative care. To maintain high-quality nursing care, oncology nurses require continuous advanced education, nursing orientation, oncology competencies, and specialization, thus improving their knowledge and skills. Nurses caring for cancer patients play an integral role in all care settings. They coordinate patient care among the interprofessional team, medical records documentation, symptom management, referrals, patient education, and follow-ups for cancer patients (Frith and Chao, 2022).

One of the special populations in cancer care is the geriatric patient population. With the aging society, most cancer patients are elderly. Thus, the focus of nursing care on this population is essential. Puts et al. (2021) note that geriatric patients are greatly affected by stress related to cancer treatment. Thus, nurses play a huge role in developing care plans and interventions that encompass other needs of geriatric patients. Additionally, they provide optimal care to cancer patients by offering extra support to their families and caregivers.

Furthermore, oncology nursing care significantly contributes to the care continuum (Young et al., 2020). The cancer care continuum describes the various stages of cancer, including etiology, prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, and end of care. Oncology nurses are engaged in all the stages of the continuum. They develop people-centered and integrative care plans for cancer patients, ensuring optimal communication and collaboration of professionals (Young et al., 2020). Nurses not only support cancer patients along the cancer continuum but are also involved in indirect patient support, such as advocating for unmet needs, thus producing better outcomes for cancer patients.

In conclusion, the literature has shown evidence of the contribution of nursing care for cancer patients in cancer prevention, risk reduction, and survivorship. Nurse-led cancer interventions and evidence-based innovations have significantly addressed the cancer burden (Charalambous et al., 2018). Nurses also participate in nursing cancer trials across the cancer spectrum, thus improving nursing care for cancer patients. Oncology nursing roles are therefore essential in caring for cancer patients.

Discussion

Nurses play a very crucial role in caring for cancer patients. From the literature reviewed above, it is evident that nurses not only develop care plans and nursing interventions used for cancer patients but also act as leaders of the interprofessional team and facilitate care coordination. More so, they act as a link between cancer patients, their families and primary caregivers, and the healthcare professionals who deliver holistic oncology care. In addition, there has been a rising need for oncology nursing specialization to cater to the increasing demand for cancer cases.

Since the cancer health issue exerts considerable pressure on the healthcare system and the nations, nurses participate in developing policies that affect cancer patients and advocate for their needs in new and existing policies. As seen from the review above, some of the populations most affected by cancer are geriatric patients. Geriatric cancer patients have more health needs due to their age, including immobility, vision problems, and hearing problems, among others. Nurses play a significant role in advocating for these needs and ensuring they are considered in the care plans and nursing interventions. Charalambous et al. (2018) note that nurse-led cancer interventions are the most effective and produce desirable health outcomes for cancer patients.

In addition, nurses are the major contributors to the cancer care continuum. They are involved in preventive care, health promotion, treatment, survivorship, end of life care.

Nursing interventions intentionally support patients, their families, and caregivers throughout the care continuum. According to Beque et al. (2019), caregivers and family experience a hard time while offering end-of-life care, which may contribute to poor health outcomes for the patient, especially cancer patients. Nursing interventions are developed to support the family and the caregivers by preparing them and teaching them how to care for their patients, especially at home.

Most importantly, nursing care for cancer patients involves patient education, symptom management, managing the side effects of treatment therapies, emotional support, and follow-ups. The most important consideration of oncology nursing care is symptom management. Nurses ensure that the developed care plans and nursing interventions can manage symptoms and reduce treatment-related distress in cancer patients (Coolbrandt et al., 2018). Nursing interventions that support symptom management for cancer patients include using therapeutic communication to promote dialogue about the patient’s concern, and identifying the positive aspects of the situation, for instance, mentioning progress in healing and commending adherence to treatment and therapies. Thus, nursing interventions cultivate hope in cancer patients and their families and encourage treatment adherence.

In addition, oncology nurses offering end-of-life care to cancer patients hold conversations with the patient about the possibility of death. Thus, they prepare them accordingly and try to give them the best care possible. The possibility of death may influence how the patient responds to treatment, thus leading to poor health outcomes. Nurses play a major role in addressing this by preparing the patient and encouraging them to adhere to treatment, thus, better health outcomes and quality of life for cancer patients regardless of the stage of the disease.

The available literature on nursing care for cancer patients has shown evidence of nurses’ crucial role in oncology. Nurses develop care plans and interventions that consider the needs of a cancer patient throughout the continuum of care and at any stage of the disease. They also offer emotional support and patient education to the patient, their family, and the caregivers, ensuring the treatment and survivorship journey is bearable.

Conclusion

 

References

Charalambous, A., Wells, M., Campbell, P., Torrens, C., Östlund, U., Oldenmenger, W., Patiraki, E., Sharp, L., Nohavova, I., Domenech, N., Neicher, M., Farrel, C., Larson, M., Olsson, C., Simpson, M., Wiseman, T. & Kelly, D. (2018). A scoping review of trials of interventions led or delivered by cancer nurses. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 86, 36-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2018.05.014

Frith, J., & Chao, N. J. (2022). Oncology Nursing Care. In The Comprehensive Cancer Center (pp. 57-62). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82052-7_7

Puts, M., Strohschein, F., Oldenmenger, W., Haase, K., Newton, L., Fitch, M., Sattar, R., Stlz-Basket, P., Jin, R., Louks A., Nightingale, G. & Kenis, C. (2021). Position statement on oncology and cancer nursing care for older adults with cancer and their caregivers of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology Nursing and Allied Health Interest Group, the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology Oncology & Aging Special Interest Group, and the European Oncology Nursing Society. Journal of Geriatric Oncology, 12(7), 1000-1004. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jgo.2021.03.010

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Cancer Patients: Diagnosis and Treatment. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/survivors/patients/treatments.htm

The National Cancer Institute. (n.d.). About Cancer, Cancer Types, Clinical Trials, and Research. Retrieved from https://www.cancer.gov/

Young, A. M., Charalambous, A., Owen, R. I., Njodzeka, B., Oldenmenger, W. H., Alqudimat, M. R., & So, W. K. W. (2020). Essential oncology nursing care along the cancer continuum. The Lancet Oncology, 21(12), e555–e563. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1470-2045(20)30612-4

Becqué, Y. N., Rietjens, J. A., van Driel, A. G., van der Heide, A., & Witkamp, E. (2019). Nursing interventions to support family caregivers in end-of-life care at home: a systematic narrative review. International journal of nursing studies, 97, 28-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2019.04.011

Coolbrandt, A., Wildiers, H., Laenen, A., Aertgeerts, B., de Casterlé, B. D., van Achterberg, T., & Milisen, K. (2018, January). A Nursing Intervention for Reducing Symptom Burden During Chemotherapy. In Oncology Nursing Forum (Vol. 45, No. 1). https://doi.org/10.1188/18.onf.115-128

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Annotated Bibliography

Frith, J., & Chao, N. J. (2022). Oncology Nursing Care. In The Comprehensive Cancer Center (pp. 57-62). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82052-7_7

In this article, Frith and Chao (2022) discuss the role of nursing care and nursing interventions for cancer patients in different hospital settings. The settings include inpatient clinical serving units, ambulatory settings, outside the clinical setting, and the role in palliative care and hospice. The article also identifies what oncology nurses need to successfully deliver care to cancer patients.

Puts, M., Strohschein, F., Oldenmenger, W., Haase, K., Newton, L., Fitch, M., Sattar, R., Stlz-Basket, P., Jin, R., Louks A., Nightingale, G. & Kenis, C. (2021). Position statement on oncology and cancer nursing care for older adults with cancer and their caregivers of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology Nursing and Allied Health Interest Group, the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology Oncology & Aging Special Interest Group, and the European Oncology Nursing Society. Journal of Geriatric Oncology, 12(7), 1000-1004. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jgo.2021.03.010

With the aging global population and the increase of geriatric cancer patients, this article evaluates the current roles of cancer nursing care to the patients and their caregivers. The authors identify four significant roles of cancer nursing care for older patients: advocating for special care needs for geriatric cancer patients, identifying educational needs, recognizing other age-related issues, and supporting geriatric patients during and after cancer treatment. The article also identifies nurses’ need to provide high-quality interventions to geriatric cancer patients.

Young, A. M., Charalambous, A., Owen, R. I., Njodzeka, B., Oldenmenger, W. H., Alqudimat, M. R., & So, W. K. W. (2020). Essential oncology nursing care along the cancer continuum. The Lancet Oncology, 21(12), e555–e563. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1470-2045(20)30612-4  

In this article, Young et al. (2020) explore the role of oncology nursing care to cancer patients and their contribution to the continuum of care. The authors emphasize the importance of delivering people-centered integrative care and using optimal communication when delivering care for cancer patients. They also establish that nursing care for cancer patients should be delivered as a team and that nurses should be involved in developing national cancer strategies.

Charalambous, A., Wells, M., Campbell, P., Torrens, C., Östlund, U., Oldenmenger, W., Patiraki, E., Sharp, L., Nohavova, I., Domenech, N., Neicher, M., Farrel, C., Larson, M., Olsson, C., Simpson, M., Wiseman, T. & Kelly, D. (2018). A scoping review of trials of interventions led or delivered by cancer nurses. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 86, 36-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2018.05.014

With the increased prevalence and incidence of cancers, this article investigates expanding the nursing roles for cancer patients to meet the growing demand for cancer care. The study synthesizes the nursing interventions facilitated and delivered to cancer patients. According to Charalambous et al. (2018), nurses play a huge role in evidence-based innovations for interventions for cancer patients. Nurse-led cancer interventions have significantly contributed to cancer prevention, risk reduction, and survival during treatment.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Cancer Patients: Diagnosis and Treatment. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/survivors/patients/treatments.htm

The site provides the current statistics for cancer patients, the different types of cancers and their prevalence, and the guidelines for nursing interventions for treating and diagnosing cancer patients. It also provides information on the treatment types and guidelines for clinical trials. The information included on the site also guides healthcare providers in developing survival care plans for cancer patients.

The National Cancer Institute. (n.d.). About Cancer, Cancer Types, Clinical Trials, and Research. Retrieved from https://www.cancer.gov/

This site provides information on cancer, cancer types, and cancer research sources. It also has information on the causes of cancer, prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, and staging, which are essential for cancer patients and their caregivers. It also has general guidelines for cancer treatment, which nurses can use to develop interventions for cancer patients.

 

Assignment Description:
Synthesis Paper Assignment: Discussion Section Description: (please make any and all corrections that are needed based on your professor’s comments from the last submission).

Prepare the Discussion section of your paper. Submit the entire document. However only the discussion section will be graded in this module. The discussion section should contain two to five paragraphs and should be a discussion of how the literature review impacts your topic. Go back to your thesis statement and be sure to clearly apply your literature review to your thesis statement. This is where you might choose to add practice examples.