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Chapter 15 oncology nursing management in cancer care
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Oncology nurses participate in a collaborative practice with the care team personnel to offer best quality management of cancer patients. The nurses are also regularly involved in promoting the nursing practice in various ways, such as research, systematic education and advanced learning (Rieger and Yarbro, 2003). An oncology nurse caters for both the patients of cancer, as well as people at risk of developing the disease. They monitor the patient’s physical state, give prescriptions and administer chemotherapy. This is one of the most challenging and at the same time rewarding fields in the nursing practice. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of health care promotion in the practice of oncology nursing. The first part will be a discussion on the role of oncology nursing, the history and future direction as well as the rewards and challenges. The second part will examine the role of health promotion in the Canadian healthcare system and the nursing’s role in health promotion. The final part will examine how health promotion can be applied in oncology nursing.
Discussion
The oncology nurse operates in various settings, such as radiation therapy facilities, ambulatory care clinics and in acute care hospitals and community agencies. Their roles vary from focusing on the intensive bone marrow transplantation care to community screening, detection and prevention of cancer. They also have a role in assessment of patients, providing patient education, direct patient care, managing symptoms and supportive care. Their clients include the cancer patients, and their families (Rieger and Yarbro, 2003). In the role of direct patient care within an inpatient setting, oncology nurses are responsible for coordinating patient ca...
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...or in conducting literature research (CANO, 2013).
Conclusion
In conclusion, oncology nurses work together with other medical personnel to enhance the positive management of cancer patients. They have major roles, which include monitoring the patient’s health and prescribing their treatment, as well as administering chemotherapy. Their occupation is both rewarding and challenging at the same time. It helps them to make positive changes in a patient’s life and creates interrelationships between them, the patients and the families. The occupation is also emotionally challenging as they have to witness the daily struggles of the patients and the desperation and worry of the patients’ families. Health care promotion in oncology nursing can help to establish new research on cancer treatment and provide patient information to help improve the health of the patients.
Often time, nurses has been viewed by patients, their family members and the medical team as basic emotional care givers, pill crushers or cart pullers and not as healthcare professionals who are more interesting in health promotion, disease prevention and better patient outcomes. They also often forget the emotional, physical, mental, and caring part that is involved with the profession. And to make matters worse, nurses are continued to be viewed as a threat by doctors more than ever before especially with the opening of Nurse Practitioners programs.
Nurses have a considerable amount of responsibility in any facility. They are responsible for administering medicines and treatments to there patient’s. While caring for there patients, nurses will make observations on patient’s health and then record there findings. As well as consulting with doctors and other healthcare professionals to plan proper individual patient care. They teach their patients how to manage their illnesses and explain to both the patient and the patients family how to continue treatment when returning home (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014-15). They also record p...
Pediatric oncology nurses are given the unique opportunity to make connections and build long-term relationship with their patients and families. Standard treatment protocol for many childhood cancers span over the course of years, with long-term surveillance and follow up visits after treatment has finished. Due to their patient’s chronic diagnoses and the acuity of their conditions, pediatric oncology nurses work in an environment of increased stress. The high stress environment puts the nurses at an increased risk for compassion fatigue; so it is the responsibility of both the nurse, and the institution to be aware of the symptoms and to effectively manage the condition should it arise. Without proper attention to the stress management of pediatric oncology nurses, compassion fatigue may be of concern and put patient care at risk.
In spite of what she has been faced with, she has always had a positive attitude and outlook. She is a woman of strong faith, which I believe has played a big part in getting her through the challenges she has faced. Chronic illness not only affects the patient, but all members of the family as well. For her, it has been a challenge with the expense it has incurred for her. She has health insurance, but some of the medications that she is on are very expensive. In the beginning of her illness, it placed more of a financial strain on her. She was divorced and did not have the best health insurance coverage to begin with. She remarried a couple of years ago and now has better health care insurance through her husband. Not being able to pay for your health care during a difficult time is very hard to deal with. As the nurse, we can offer referrals to agencies that may be able to offer some assistance. Psychosocial care should be incorporated into the routine care of patients with cancer (Jacobsen & Wagner, 2012). Dealing with a chronic illness can also have emotional effects on the patient, as well as other family members. Depression is a commonly incurred condition that coincides with cancer, which can lead to other health and social issues. It is of great importance to provide emotional support to the patient and their family members. As the nurse, we can offer support groups to the patient and
Healthcare is viewed in an unrealistic way by most individuals. Many people view a physician as the only means to find a solution to their problem. Nurses are still seen by some as simply “the person who does what the doctor says.” This is frustrating in today’s time when nurses are required to spend years on their education to help care for their patients. In many situations nurses are the only advocate that some patients’ have.
Throughout this philosophy paper, I have explored what nursing is based on my personal values and beliefs as it relates to the body of work in nursing. I value the importance of holistic nursing and the care of patients being individualized for them and their family. Also, effectively collaborating among health care professionals to ensure quality care for patients. Additionally, the importance of health promotion as one of the main roles of nurses is being a teacher, since promoting health prevents illness and increases the level of health in clients. These principles will serve as a guide for my personal standards of nursing practice.
Often in practice, we as nurses deal with a variety of diseases and treatments and often have to react to the illness that the patient presents with upon our interaction. While this is an essential piece of our practice, we also have a duty to our patients to be proactive in preventing specific health-related consequences based on their risk factors and to promote their health and well being. Health promotion as it relates to nursing is about us empowering our patients to increase their control over their lives and well beings and includes: focusing on their health not just illness, empowering our patients, recognizing that health involves many dimensions and is also effected by factors outside of their control (Whitehead et al. 2008)..
The pediatric oncology unit has become a heavily studied area for those interested in prevention of compassion fatigue, burnout, and identification of those character traits that offer increased resilience. Nurses are expected to maintain professionalism and appropriate work-life balance but this may become a difficult task on a unit where children have a chronic, intensive, and potentially life-ending condition. Nurses become close to the patient and their family and when death occurs they too may feel a great sense of intense grief and loss. The acknowledgment of this grief and the promotion of adequate self-care habits, work-life divisions, and the ability to recognize when help may be needed are amongst the most important means in prevention of burnout and compassion fatigue. In addition to utilization of positive coping skills by the nurse a responsibility by the organization is also necessary to prevent staff burnout and turnover. The organization is responsible for acknowledgement of a loss on the unit. Presentation of prompt and anonymous counseling services to everyone on the unit following a death and regularly on high-risk units is just one of the many ways an organization can continue to decrease the loss of good nurses to compassion fatigue and
According to the American Nurses Association, nursing is defined as “the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, facilitation of healing, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations” (American Nurses Association, 2016). Nurses have many jobs and responsibilities and wear many different hats. Nurses can perform at many different levels depending on their scope of practice which is defined by the board of nursing in one’s state of residence. It is important as nurses to understand and follow
Nursing entails self- directed and cooperative health care for the society at large in all contexts. It includes the promotion of appropriate practices to enhance health, prevention of diseases,
The majority of our society holds the notion that nurses are no more than trained professionals, working for a doctor, who simply provide medical care for the sick and informed. However, what nursing means to me goes deeper than that belief. Nursing is a profession in which individuals are responsible for not only the care of the sick and infirmed but are also responsible for being a support system and an educator, as well as an advocate for the promotion of optimal care. In today’s society, nurses are an important part of any medical facility’s investment. This paper will address the many different aspects of nursing in which nurse’s act as not only caregivers but also act as, counselors and educators.
Dunniece, U. Slevin, E. (2000). Nurses' Experience of Being Present With a Patient Receiving a Diagnosis of Cancer. Journal of Advanced Nursing 32, pp.611-618.
Viele, C.S. (2003). Diagnosis, treatment, and nursing care of acute leukemia. Seminars in Oncology Nursing, 19(2), 98-108. Retrieved , from http://www.nursingconsult.com/nursing/journals/0749-2081/full-text/PDF/s0749208103000068.pdf?issn=0749-2081&full_text=pdf&pdfName=s0749208103000068.pdf&spid=13652985&article_id=487088
According to the research from Mercer & Reynolds (2002), patients with cancer, who receive a high level of empathy from nurses, show an emotional decrease in anxiety, depression, and hostility. In this case, the nurses act as a service leader that provide care and opportunity for patients to share their feeling and let them receive love from others. The nurses understand the situation of the patients and realize the needs of the patients as they feel the patient experience as their own. Apart from medical supports, providing empathy to the patient is more important in order to alleviate the negative emotion. Therefore, an effective service leadership should possess the ability of empathy to care people so as to satisfy people
The nursing profession is constantly in a state of change becoming more complex over time. Registered nurses work to prevent disease, promote health and help patients cope. They develop and manage nursing care plans, instruct proper outpatient care, and help improve and maintain health within their community. They are educators of health governed by state laws. Registered nurses can work in many different settings which determine their daily job duties. Depending on their level of training a RN could work with geriatrics, in intensive care units, as an educator, as clinical study observers, a midwife, oncology, or palliative care. Hospital nurses make up the majority of the RN group. They work as staff nurses who carryout medical regimens and provide bedside care. Most registered nurses work in well-lighted comfortable facilities, work nights, weekends, and holidays, and spend a considerable amount of time on their feet. They have to be available at a moment’s notice. Nursing also has its hazards all employees of care facilities are at risk for infectious disease, radiation poisoning, back injuries, shocks from electrical equipment, and hazards posed by compressed gas. Nurses are the link between doctors and patients.