Nurses’ Role in Cancer Care Management

Discuss about the Writing for Publication for Cancer Care Management.

Cancer care management is vital for the treatment and overall well-being of the patient – this is because the illness is incurable. The process involves eliminating risk factors and symptoms through diagnosis, staging and treatment. Notably, cancer care in Australia involves treating the patient via radial therapy, hormonal therapy, chemotherapy and surgery; or counseling, palliative and hospice care for those in the final stages of cancer. Multiple studies show that nurses play an integral role in cancer care and management because they help the patients manage symptoms of nausea, distress, and fatigue (Pearce et al., 2017). Also, they utilise advanced practices such as education and research to empower patients. Traditionally, cancer care management involved surgery; managing the symptoms, and making the patient as comfortable as possible. However, new practices such as chemotherapy prevent the growth of cancer and shrink the abnormal cells. In most cases, the approaches eliminate cancer cells from the patient’s body. This paper examines contemporary practices in cancer care management with the editorial published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies – Elsevier. My preference of this journal is because of its popularity concerning the global audience.

Today, technology is increasingly applied to medical practices to provide better services. Scientists suggest that in future, nurses will utilise more sophisticated and innovative equipment to monitor the patient’s condition (Kehe, 2017). Initially, the standard practices in cancer care management were surgery and chemotherapy. The approaches aimed at controlling cancer by removing the affected cells or by administering cancer drugs to the patient.

According to (Miller et al., 2015) chemo treatment involves giving the drugs on a regular schedule or administering them when the symptoms occur. However, over time, some cells become resistant to the approach and remain unresponsive to other treatment. For instance, if signs of skin cancer appear after two years from administering chemo, the patient must take alternative medication. The efficiency of this approach is debatable because it has numerous side effects and may permanently “destroy” the body part or other healthy cells. Some chemo drugs cause nerve damage in the hands and heart complications. However, the treatment has potential benefits because it can stop cancer. In other cases, the patient feels stronger or better after getting chemo – this ensures they live longer. New chemo practices in Australia involve the use of contemporary drugs to relieve pain and reduce the widespread of cancer cells.

Contemporary Practices in Cancer Care Management

Other contemporary guidelines in cancer care management are radiation therapy and surgery. According to (Pearce et al., 2017) radial therapy uses high-energy waves such as gamma rays, x rays, electron beam and protons to destroy cancer cells. The contemporary technique damages cancer cells by breaking their DNA – this limits cancer cells from growing and dividing in the body. Radial therapy is a very efficient approach in cancer care – this is because the ingested substances eliminate up to 80 per cent of a tumour. In some cases, cancer disappears entirely after treatment, for instance, the introduction of radioactive materials in the veins cures Leukemia. However, the approach has certain disadvantages. Primarily, the procedure cannot be used twice in the same body part. In such cases, patients sign consent forms in Australia before radial therapy to acknowledge the potential risks during treatment. Delwiche (2013) explains that radial procedure does not apply to certain types of cancers; an example is skin cancer because of the possible risk of destroying healthy skin cells.

Another contemporary guideline to cancer care in Australia is surgery. From Shimol et al. (2018) surgery involves removing cancer cells and the surrounding tissues during an operation. The technique is the oldest cancer treatment approach. However, modern surgical procedures utilise new equipment to conduct surgery and monitor the post-surgery condition of the patient.  An example is a robotic surgery for pancreatic cancer in Australian hospitals. Delwiche (2013) suggests that surgery is an efficient approach in cancer care – this is because post-surgery drugs reduce pain and discomfort among patients. Also, the concept allows treatment of malignant tumours in internal body parts such as the liver. Compared to radial therapy, surgery is more efficient. Fenner at al. (2012) explains that the approach has certain demerits. For instance, it may involve removing the entire organ to remove cyst. Patients in certain stages of cancer require surgical procedures to remove the organ and prevent infection of other body parts. An examples is pancreatic cancer may affect the brain. In this case, surgical procedures remove the entire pancreas. Beheshti et al. (2017) explain that modern cancer care management practices in Australia utilise treatment machines which monitor the patient’s health during treatment, and help manage potential side effects.

According to (Rome et al., 2011) palliative care is a vital guideline for cancer care management in Australia. The concept focuses on relieving emotional and physical symptoms related to cancer. Notably, cancer care involves managing the signs because the disease is incurable. The argument here is that palliative care makes the patient’s life better before, during and after the treatment by controlling tiredness, pain, shortness of breath and nausea. The approach also involves counselling and physical therapy to reduce emotional stress and depression among cancer patients. However, the method does not apply to cancer patients in their final stage. 

Surgery

Another contemporary approach to cancer care management in Australia is hospice care. It involves managing patients when cancer cannot be controlled; or when the side effects outweigh benefits of medication (Shimol et al., 2018). The approach helps patients live comfortably, and accept death as the ultimate stage rather than trying to stop it. One merit of hospice care is that it relieves cancer pain and other symptoms because the focus is on comfort. However, the approach is expensive because advanced care takes place. In Australia, the guideline involves high-costs because nurses employ costly programs to reduce complications arising from cancer.

According to (Miller et al., 2015) another guideline to cancer care management is counselling. Today, contemporary cancer care in Australia must involve counseling. Here, hospitals use a variety of technologies, therapies, and specialities to educate the patient and provide emotional support. Patient education plays a vital role in empowering and informing the sick. One of the merits of this guideline is that the patients and their families obtain information concerning the treatment procedures, and how to stay healthy. Comparatively, counseling is more efficient than palliative care because patients understand the coordinating care and importance of specific procedures – this allows a more natural transition from post-surgery to hospice care (Ryan, 2013).  Cancer care management by counseling plays a vital role for post-surgery patients suffering from depression, deep pain, fear, and trauma among other concerns. Improper management of patients limits their response to therapy and the overall treatment. Contemporary counseling in Australia involves implementation of programs which provide psychological support to the sick and their families. The approach is effective because nurses engage the patient and their families in prostheses, rehabilitation and reconstructive therapy. However, counselling is expensive because formal resources and health programs enable the nurse care managers to address health concerns of the patient (Miller et al., 2015). Extreme medical procedures have also been formulated to provide advanced care. Another contemporary issue is the use of support groups to educate the patient and deal with their emotions. The groups consist of caregivers, people with cancer, and survivors of different stages of the disease. In some cases, the support groups provide spiritual and moral assistance.

In conclusion, contemporary cancer care management in Australia involves a variety of procedures which mitigate the symptoms. Practices such as robotic surgery and radiotherapy primarily represent recent innovations in cancer care – these approaches are more effective compared to “traditional” techniques because they mitigate the effect on other healthy body parts. In Australia, older innovative technology “changes” the nature of older approaches such as chemotherapy because patients ingest contemporary drugs which effectively destroy the cancer cells. Australian healthcare centres utilise cancer care management practices such as counselling, support groups, palliative and hospice care to provide emotional support. The concepts engage the patient in therapy and allow them to live longer.

Chemotherapy

Editorials play a crucial role in the development of journals because they encourage the reader to select from a variety of papers (Yuri, 2013). Today, different strategies ensure a publication gains high readership.  For this editorial, policies which provide broad readership include sharing on social media. The channels offer a platform for sharing information and other interactions. Sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram allow extensive marketing and communication (Khatri et al., 2015). Social media will promote readership of this article because it is shared on multiple profiles, and is more accessible to the digital reader browsing content online. The platform also enables authors to engage a broad audience by tweeting and sharing the journal article.

Another strategy is sharing the editorial on the internet and other journal articles (Kehe, 2017). The concept presents the column to educators and students seeking knowledge on current guidelines to cancer care management. Engaging the readers in the debate also improves the readership – this makes the article accessible to many individuals. Another strategy is making the material more interesting by adding pictures of cancer care management in nursing as supplemental files or part of the body (Jaring & Back, 2017). Improving the quality of the editorial by peer-reviewing the article on the subject area is essential. The concept helps to reduce the number of errors and provides for necessary corrections. Also, it moulds the editorial to suit the audience by making proper corrections on grammar and punctuation – this makes the article more appealing.

References

Back, P. J. (2017). How Researchers use Social Media to Promote their Research and Network with Industry. Technology Innovation Management Review.

Beheshti, F. et al. (2017). Genetic variation in the DNA repair pathway as a potential determinant of response to platinum?based chemotherapy in breast cancer. Journal of Cellular Physiology, 233 (4), 2752-2758.

Delwiche, F. (2013). Mapping the literature of radiation therapy. PMC , 101 (2), 120–127.

Fenner, Y. Et al. (2012). Web-based recruiting for health research using a social networking site: an exploratory study. PMC , 14, 20.

Kehe, Z. (2017). Inaugural editorial: Promoting the understanding of ideographic writings. Journal of Chinese Writing Systems, 1 (1), 3-3.

Khatri, C. (2015). Social Media and Internet Driven Study Recruitment: Evaluating a New Model for Promoting Collaborator Engagement and Participation. PLoS ONE, 10 (3).

Miller, A. et al. (2015). Reporting results of cancer treatment. Wiley Online Library.

Pearce, A. et al. (2017). Incidence and severity of self-reported chemotherapy side effects in routine care: A prospective cohort study. PLoS ONE , 12 (10).

Rome, R. et al. (2011). The Role of Palliative Care at the End of Life. PMC, 11 (4), 348–352.

Ryan, G. (2013). Online social networks for patient involvement and recruitment in clinical research. PMC , 21, 35-39.

Shimol, B. et al. (2018). Computer-based radiological longitudinal evaluation of meningiomas following stereotactic radiosurgery. International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 13 (2), 215 – 220.

Yuri, A. (2013). Selecting Your Editorial Board: Maintaining Standards. PMC, 28 (7), 972–973.