Nursing Management in Cancer Care
Nursing Management in Cancer Care
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QUESTION 15:
Chapter 15, Oncology: Nursing Management in Cancer Care
The oncology clinical nurse specialist (CNS) is asked to develop a staff development program for registered nurses who will be administering chemotherapeutic agents. Because the nurses will be administering a variety of chemotherapeutic drugs to oncology patients, the CNS plans on presenting an overview of agents, classifications, and special precautions related to the safe handling and administration of these drugs. (Learning Objectives 6 and 8)
a. What does the CNS describe as the goals of chemotherapy?
b. How should the CNS respond to the following question: “Why do patients require rounds of chemotherapeutic drugs, including different drugs and varying intervals?”
c. In teaching about the administration of chemotherapeutic agents, what signs of extravasation should the nurse include?
d. What clinical manifestations of myelosuppression, secondary to chemotherapy administration, should the CNS include in this program?
QUESTION 16:
Chapter 16, End-of-Life Care
Joe Clark, 79 years of age, is a male patient who is receiving hospice care for his terminal illnesses that include lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). He developed bilateral pleural effusion (fluid that accumulates in the pleural space of each lung), which has compromised his lung expansion. He states that he is short of breath and feels anxious that the next breath will be his last. The patient is admitted to the hospital for a thoracentesis (an invasive procedure used to drain the fluid from the pleural space so the lung can expand). The thoracentesis is being used as a palliative measure to relieve the discomfort he is experiencing. Low dose morphine is ordered to provide relief from dyspnea or discomfort. The patient is prescribed Proventil (albuterol) inhaler 2 puffs per day, as needed, and Flovent (fluticasone propionate) inhaler 2 puffs twice a day. The patient has 2 L/min of oxygen ordered per nasal cannula as needed for comfort. (Learning Objective 9)
a. What nursing measures should the nurse use to manage the patient’s dyspnea?
b. The patient complains that he has no appetite and struggles to eat and breathe. What nursing measures should the nurse implement to manage this physiologic response to the terminal illnesses?
