Detection, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Cancer

Healing Angel

Detection

Patient teaching for the detection of cancer is the responsibility of the nurse.

Teaching patients the seven warning signs, BSE (Breast Self Exam), testicular exam and the importance of seeking care if any one warning sign or abnormality is noted, save lives.

"The 7 Warning Signs"

C hange in bowel and bladder

A sore that does not heal

U nusual bleeding or discharge

T hickening or lump in breast or elsewhere

I ndigestion

O bvious change in warts or moles

N agging cough or hoarseness

Diagnosis

Diagnosis will indicate will indicate a benign or malignant tumor. Primary cancer means the cancer is in its' place of origin or it has not spread. Malignant cancer is defined as cancer that has moved to another part of the body. Depending on what the primary cancer is will suggest where the cancer might spread to, this is called common sites of metastasis.

Treatment

Once the patient is diagnosed, a treatment plan is developed according to the type, grade, and stage of cancer as well as considering the patients overall health and co-morbidities.

The treatment choices include; surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy as well as several other alternative and supplemental interventions.

When the diagnosis is shared, the patient could react in a variety of ways. As a nurse you must always offer your presence; by that I mean being there and connecting with your patient by taking the time to listen, sit, hold there hand, be the support that they need.

Presence is what nursing is all about.

I would like to share a poem written by a patient with cancer. The patient shares her feelings of how she would like to be treated and what she is trying to sort through with the diagnosis of cancer. Listen to these words closely and remember them as you care for all of your patients; as the person lying in bed is not a disease but a human being with emotions and feelings.

ANGER! by Hendel, J. (1996)

After reviewing this Blog, researching the links provided, and your notes from class, take a few minutes to reflect on all you have learned, and then create a holistic plan of care (do not forget to include with the interventions, the rationale) for a 30-year-old woman undergoing chemotherapy for the treatment of breast cancer in the hospital setting. She is married and has three children under the age of 5. The husband works full time, the members of their church are bringing meals to the family and caring for the children while she is in the hospital and Dad is at work.

You (the nurse) enter the patients’ room and find her tearful staring out the window, sitting, curled up in the chair. She shares with you that she misses her children.

Based on the holistic plan of care you have developed along with your knowledge and experience, discuss what nursing interventions would be appropriate and why.