Benchmark – Nursing Process: Approach to Care
Cancer is a body’s condition that is characterized by uncontrollable multiplication of body cells that spread across the body rampantly. These cells can be originally normal body cells that mutate into an abnormal cell that rapidly divides and invades other body cells and tissues. They can also be foreign cells introduced to the body that rapidly divide and attack other body cells and tissues. Cancer is a major contributor of mortality in the modern age due to the increasing change in lifestyle and technological advancements (Miller et al., 2019).The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has been on the leading foot in the studies about cancer. From various studies, this institute has come up with diagnosis and staging strategies based on the behavior of the cancer cells. The purpose of this paper is to define cancer including its diagnosis and staging, complications and effects of its treatment, and factors contributing to high cancer mortality rates. In addition, the nursing process will be applied in providing holistic nursing care to cancer patients.
Cancer Diagnosis and Staging
Depending on the location of the cancer or suspected cancer, the symptoms may vary. Some symptoms however are common in cancers, and some of these symptoms include a lump developing under the skin that can be seen or felt as an area of thickening, changes in skin integrity such as the development of non-healing sores, skin yellowing, bladder and bowel changes in habits and fatigue among others (Koo et al., 2019). Once the symptoms are indicative of an existing malignancy, confirmatory diagnostic tests are conducted. These include imaging tests, lab tests and biopsy. For lab tests, various aspects of human body samples are analyzed including body fluids such as blood and urine. A full blood count can indicate an irregular number of white blood cells or an unusual type especially in leukemia (National Cancer Institute, 2019). Blood samples can also indicate tumor markers. Tumor markers are usually produced by cells responding to the presence of cancer or by cancer cells themselves. Cancer cells however produce a higher amount of tumor markers as compared to normal cells. Higher levels of tumor markers are indicative of a malignancy.
Imaging tests include an MRI and a CT scan. Imaging tests can clearly show the body organs and abnormal growths or tumors. A nuclear scan is also an imaging test that can be used in diagnosis. For this scan, a radioactive material
s injected into the blood stream for computerized imaging (Koo et al., 2019). A bone scan can also be used to indicate bone cancers or metastasis to the bones. Radioactive material collects over the areas of bone abnormalities known as the hotspots. X-rays, PET scans, and ultrasounds are other imaging scans that can be used in diagnosing cancer. The final method of diagnosing cancer is through a biopsy. Taking biopsies is the most accurate method of diagnosing cancer. This is because biopsies are indicative of the type of cells within the area of sample collection.
There are three types of biopsies, the fine needle aspirate which involves using a needle to withdraw samples from a tissue or from body fluids. It is common for prostrate, breast, spinal taps, liver, and bone marrow aspirations. The other types are incisional biopsy which involves the removal of a small sample of the affected tissue and sending it to the lab for studies. The other type is an excisional biopsy, where the entire affected mass is excised and used for diagnosis. Biopsies offer a definitive diagnosis for cancer including the type of cells affected and the metastasis.
Staging tells how advanced the cancer is. For staging, roman numerals are used. Stage zero (0) means there is no actual cancer development, but there is a potential for cancerous development. This is also called a carcinoma in situ. A stage I means the cancer is not vastly developed and is stuck to one location. The synonym for stage I is early stage cancer. Stages II and III indicate that the cancer has metastasized to the lymph nodes and surrounding tissue (National Cancer Institute, 2019). A stage IV is the terminal stage of cancer that is irreversible even with treatment. The cancer has advanced and metastasized to other body tissues causing irreversible damage. It is also termed metastatic cancer.
The staging process incorporates the TNM system that stands for tumor, node and metastasis. Each of these is assigned values and if the specific measurement cannot be determined, an “X” is used instead. The T which stands for tumor indicates the size of the tumor given the range of 0-4. T0 means the tumor is below measureable limit. The
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