The nursing process is a systematic problem-solving approach for meeting a patient’s health care needs. The components of the nursing process include assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation. It enables nurses to identify the health care needs of a patient and provide patient-centred care. This paper will discuss cancer and will include diagnosis and staging of cancer, complications, and side effects of treatment, risk factors for cancer, and the role of the American Cancer Society. It will also outline how the nursing process is utilized in cancer patients’ care and explore how the incorporation of liberal arts and science studies contributes to the foundation of nursing knowledge.
Nurses strive to provide the best possible care to diverse clients under consistently changing conditions. From the medications administered to the type of dressing used to heal a wound, nurses apply procedures that have been tested through research and deemed appropriate according to evidence-based standards of practice. Through foundational knowledge related to research methods, translation of research data is used to improve nursing practice and, ultimately, patient outcomes. Therefore, nurses must become familiar with the specific language of scientific research and the research process. As health care professionals, nurses seek to provide their patients with the best possible health care. To determine which approaches to care result in the best possible care, the effectiveness of each approach specific to a chosen population must be investigated. The pursuit of knowledge is the basis for research. Researchers seek to find answers to various scientific questions, but there are the boundaries associated with the pursuit of knowledge (Helbig, 2018).
Diagnosis and Staging of Cancer
Cancer is diagnosed based on an assessment of physiologic and functional changes and diagnostic evaluation. A comprehensive patient history identifies any warning signs for cancer such as changes in bowel or bladder habits, a sore that does not heal, unusual bleeding or discharge, thickening or lump in the breast, indigestion or difficulty swallowing, changes in a wart or mole, and nagging cough or hoarseness (Wardle et al., 2015). In addition to history taking, a complete physical examination is conducted with a specific focus on tumor characteristics.
Diagnosis also entails conducting laboratory tests, imaging tests, and microscopic study of tissues and cells. Frequently used imaging tests include endoscopy, computed tomography, Magnetic resonance imaging, fluoroscopy, and ultrasonography (Wardle et al., 2015). Microscopic tests include cytology, which is the microscopic study of cells, to establish whether they appear malignant or premalignant. A common cytology study is the Pap smear, which entails scraping cells from the female cervix and smearing on a slide for microscopic diagnosis (Wardle et al., 2015). Laboratory tests include Tumor marker identification. Tumor markers are substances produced by normal or neoplastic tissue and may appear in blood at increased levels in the presence of a neoplasm.
Staging of cancer is performed to determine the size of the tumor and the presence of metastasis. Several systems have been developed to enable the classification of the anatomic extent of disease. The TNM system is commonly used; TNM is an acronym in which T refers to the size of the primary tumor, N represents lymph node involvement, and M refers to the degree of metastasis (Rosen & Sapra, 2020). The TNM stages cancer from stage 0 to IV. The higher the number, the larger the tumor size and the greater the spread into other tissues and cells.
Stage 0- Presence of abnormal cells with no metastases; however, there is a chance of cells becoming malignant. This stage is referred to as carcinoma insitu.
Stage I- Localized cancer. Invasion is up to the subserosa with no lymph node involvement or metastasis.
Stage II- Locally advanced cancer in early stages with an invasion of the subserosa. No regional nodal spread or distant metastasis is present (Rosen & Sapra, 2020).
Stage III- Locally advanced cancer, late stages. There is an invasion of the adjacent structures and more than seven regional nodes. No distant metastasis is present (Rosen & Sapra, 2020).
Stage IV- Metastatic cancer. There is an invasion of the adjacent structures, and more than seven regional nodes are involved. There is also evidence of distant metastasis.
Complications of Cancer
Complications of cancer result from
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