Nursing process- approach to care

Nursing process- approach to care

Introduction

The nursing process entails a systematic approach to care by applying the fundamental principles of critical thinking, goal-oriented tasks, patient-centered procedures to treatment, and evidence-based practices. Holistic and scientific methods are also integrated to provide quality based health care. It, therefore, functions systematically to give a guide to client-centered care with five sequential steps. These steps include assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and, finally, evaluation. Through these steps, nursing knowledge is put into practice. Nurses are also able to examine the health care needs of individual patients and offer personalized care. The study herein seeks to explore how the nursing process can be utilized to provide safe and quality care to cancer patients across the life span through education and support. To effectively provide safe care for patients with cancer, its diagnosis process and staging are elaborated. Also, complications and side effects of the methods of cancer treatment are significantly explored and discussed.

Diagnosis and staging of cancer

Cancer is one of the significant causes of death in the entire world to the extent of being declared a national epidemic in many countries. It has several symptoms that become evident at later stages. However, in any case, some of these symptoms do not necessarily result from cancer but can be caused by other health problems or growth of non-cancerous. Therefore, it is always advisable for an individual to seek medical attention if one has encountered symptoms that do not disappear after some time. The physician will carry out physical body examinations as well as several tests on the patients to find out the causes of the symptoms.

The process of determining that the symptoms are as a result of cancer is referred to as diagnosis. Doctors then take another step in determining the treatment of the cancer patient. After the doctor has determined that the patient has cancer, he/she begins finding out the rate at which the disease is spreading to other parts of the body. He/ or she may carry out laboratory tests to know the location of cancer and its effects on different body parts. A doctor may take samples of body fluids such as blood checks for harmful compounds.

Moreover, imaging scans such as CT scans, and ultrasound can be used to identify cancerous tissues in the body. Imaging machines have diverse techniques of creating and may be sensitive to a particular type of cancer such as cancers of the bones

Additionally, the physician needs to determine the stage of the tumor to be able to provide appropriate treatment. Cancer staging is the process of finding out how much cancer in an individual’s body and its location. Mostly, carried out twice in which the first staging is conducted before treatment and is known as the clinical stage. The subsequent adaptation is carried out after treatment, and it is referred to as pathologic staging. Pathologic staging can be done through surgery. Doctors usually use the TNM staging system when conducting cancer staging. The American Joint Committee and Union of International control are the key bodies that conserve the TNM staging system. The T score determines the rate at which the primary tumor spreads. The node (N) shows the expanse of cancer inside the nearby lymph node. Finally, M (metastasis) proves if cancer, whether the disease has spread (metastasized) to other parts or not. However, for many cancers, the TNM combinations are classified into five stages ranging from stage 0 to stage IV. At step 0, there is the presence of abnormal cells, but they have not spread to the near body lesions. In step 1, the cancer is present; if the tumor is large, it spreads fast to the nearby tissues. Stage 2 and 3 implies that the cancer is large and has spread to adjacent tissue or lymph nodes. Finally, in step 4, cancer will have spread to other body parts

A complication of the disease, side effects of treatment and methods to lessen psychological effects

When patients are diagnosed with cancer, there is a higher probability of developing varying complications either before surgery or after treatment of cancer. For instance, childhood cancer survivors are likely to encounter long term complications such as language impairment, sensor neural hearing loss, and dysarthria, among others. Cancer complications can be grouped as directs or indirect effects of the tumor. Usually, direct impacts include mechanism compression of the structures neighboring the tumor. On the other hand, secondary complications include hypercoagulability, paraneoplastic syndrome, and immune suppression.

Further, the treatment of cancer goes hand in hand with the side effects because of the procedures that are conducted on cancer patients during the treatment process. The process, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, can cause harmful oral side effects. Mucositis and salivary gland are some of the side effects that are associated with cancer treatment. Mucositis leads to difficulties in eating because it usually occurs along the gastrointestinal tract. Salivary gland dysfunctions cause a decrease in the flow of the saliva. The condition occurs in the first treatment of patients through radiotherapy and intensifies during the treatment period. Chemotherapy affects the brain as it makes the patient find it hard to concentrate or remember things. Also, certain chemo drugs can damage the cell in the patient’s heart. This could eventually lead to heart problems such as cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, and heart attack. Apart from such physical effects, a cancer patient can develop Psychological effects such as distress whereby the patients develop a negative attitude towards the disease. Eventually, their ability to cope up with cancer is affected. Nurses can provide clinical intervention by helping the patients overcome their emotional distress through various services such as counseling services. Providing education and psychological support could also help them cope up. Pain can be reduced through medication using opioids. Opioids are highly effective medicines for relieving cancer, and they include fentanyl, oxycodone, and codeine, among others.

Factors contributing to incident and mortality rates among various cancer in Americans

Generally, cancer burden in the United States is associated with modifiable health behaviors that increase the risk of suffering from the disease. It evident that five major risk factors are contributing to cancer incidence among Americans. These factors include the use of tobacco, physical inactivity, poor diet, overweight and obesity, poor diet, and alcohol consumption. According to the American Institute of cancer research, tobacco use causes more than 400000 premature deaths from cancer. Tobacco smoking contributes to a higher percentage of lung cancer and laryngeal cancer. Also, colon, stomach, and cervix cancer are linked to tobacco use. Smoking has also been identified as one of the causes of liver cancer. In most cases, smoking has resulted in lung cancer, which accounts for the highest percentage of diseases caused by smoking. This has led to the prevalence of cancer in both men and women in the United States.

Further, being physically inactive increases insulin resistance- a condition in which the insulin becomes less effective at lowering the blood sugar level. Eventually, insulin resistance can increase the level of body inflammations, which plays a significant role in cancer development. Also, lack of physical exercise contributes to overweight and obesity among Americans. Obesity and overweight are significantly linked to colorectal cancer. People who are overweight and obese are likely to develop colorectal cancer than ordinary people. Being overweight also poses a risk of developing breast cancer in women. The risk is because of estrogen made by fat cells. Too much estrogen leads to postmenopausal breast cancer and ovarian cancers. Eating unhealthy food has also been one of the factors that contribute to the incidences of cancer in the United States. Consumption of processed foods such as bacon sausage and hot dogs contains calories that cause disease. Although these foods are a source of protein, they provide a large number of saturated fats that increase the level of cholesterol in the blood. Red meat, when cooked at high temperatures, produces carcinogens, which a causal factor of cancer.

Role of American cancer Society in controlling cancer in the U.S.A

The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a voluntary organization, which focused on eliminating and mitigating disease through prevention mechanism, saving lives, and reducing the pain that is experienced by cancer patients. It achieves this through research advocacy and service. The ANC collaborates with other American health partners to eliminate cancer as a significant health problem. For instance, it works with ASCO in doing research aimed at diagnosis, improving prevention, and enhancing better treatment of cancer. ACS provides programs that help prevent, detect, and treat cancer. The organization also provides education physicians and other health care professionals on how to control cancer incidences in the U.S.A.

The provision of leadership training to an oncologist is among the efforts of this organization in fighting cancer.

Also, society advocates for public policies to help ensure that lawmakers at all levels of the government understand scientific evidence and develop laws that help win against cancer. Through research, the society has been able to provide proof for cancer patient care as well as public policy decision making. Its research program provides funds to researchers in universities, cancer centers, and research in the United States. The study also provides guidelines on how to achieve early detection of cancer. For the society to effectively prevent disease, there is a need for public education on maintaining healthy lifestyles through proper diet and physical exercises. This is because health styles are the primary factor that causes cancer.

Utilization of the nursing process to provide adequate care of cancer patients

Nurses have the responsibility of providing quality care to cancer patients across all the nursing stages. Firstly, nurses must assess the view and data regarding cancer patients. Assessment does not only involve the evaluation of physiological data but also the psychological and emotional aspects as well. For instance, the evaluation of a cancer patient in pain includes not the physical manifestation but also the emotional Impact such as anger, fear, and withdrawal from the family. During the diagnosis process, nurses should respond appropriately to the needs of the cancer patient. The patient should be made to understand the therapy goals and treatment schedules. Based on the assessment and diagnosis, the nurse should set medical intervention goals for the patient. Such purpose includes the management of pain through adequate medication. The goals could be documented in the patient care plan so that other healthcare professionals have access to it. At the implementation and evaluation stage, the care plans of the patients are implemented through the provision of health education and continuous examination of the effectiveness of nursing care.

Contribution of liberal arts and science studies to nursing knowledge

Liberal arts provide a critical thing, problem-solving, and communication skills that are very profound to the nursing profession. Liberal arts helps nursing students to think differently. They are also encouraged to appreciate their role in the competitive global society when it comes to executing their nursing practice. Practical communication skills assist the nurse in understanding the need of the patient to provide quality and safe patient care. It will help nurses relate with patients and effectively know what they are going through. Liberal and science studies further offer a basis for understanding the wholeness of patients and the complexity of their experiences that affects their health. Therefore, nurses can understand the emotional and psychological perspectives of their patients.