Judy Franklin, 22 years old, has just graduated from college and is about to start a job as a graphic arts designer in a large marketing company. Judy is also planning her wedding to George 6 months from now. She found a lump in her left breast during self-exam and has come to the physician for an initial consultation. During the assessment, the nurse learns Judy has not told her fiancé about her findings. Judy will not make eye contact with the nurse and appears distracted during the interview.
How might you assist Judy in deciding how to inform her fiancé
if the lump is determined to be a malignant tumor?
An oncology nurse is a patient advocate, educator, source of patient and family support, and an integral part of health care delivery. Oncology nurses provide direct patient care at the bedside and chairside, as well as serve as educators, researchers, administrators, and advanced practice clinicians (nurses who manage treatment-related side effects and work with doctors to manage patient care). The oncology nurse’s role in cancer treatment is to advocate for the patient and their families and to treat the whole person, not just the cancer. Patient and family education starts before therapy and continues during and after therapy. Continual reinforcement throughout the treatment course helps to ensure success. Patient concerns have both informational and emotional components, so patients need both information and emotional support to resolve their concerns
The stress of cancer and its treatment are often associated with intense negative emotions: sadness, fear, and anger. Though we often cannot “fix” the causes of these emotions, empirical studies indicate that providing emotional support ameliorates distress. Patients feel emotionally supported when their nurse shows care for them as a person, by spending enough time with them, allowing them to ask questions, and listening to their concerns. Maintaining hope is essential to patients and their families at the end of life. Though many clinicians equate honesty about a poor prognosis with destroying hope, healthy coping continually generates hope, even in difficult life situations. Even under situations of severe stress, positive emotions are prominent, and are an integral part of the coping process.
Therefore, we will assist Judy emotionally and encourage her to inform her fiancé about her diagnosis, so that next steps can be planned. We need to convince her that telling the truth with remove burden from her soul also.
How might you assist Judy in deciding how to inform her fiancé if the lump is determined to be a malignant tumor?
Judy Franklin, 22 years old, has just graduated from college and is about to start a job as a graphic arts designer in a large marketing company. Judy is also planning her wedding to George 6 months from now. She found a lump in her left breast during self-exam and has come to the physician for an initial consultation. During the assessment, the nurse learns Judy has not told her fiancé about her findings. Judy will not make eye contact...