Webliography: Providing complete care to the cancer patient

Providing complete care to the cancer patient.

I enjoy the discussion of providing complete care to today’s cancer patients.  When I say this I am referring to the fact that facing terminal illness puts patients in need of highly competent complete care that includes physiological treatment, symptom relief, emotional and spiritual support, and possibly end of life care.  This type of care is of course not limited to cancer patients but the rigors of treatment, the symptoms it produces, and the chances of illness leading to death makes this a unique set of patients.   As nurses of cancer patients we must find a way to treat our clients medically while still providing empathy and emotional support.  It is also important to not instill false hope.  It is a very delicate balance and I am always looking for ways to learn and improve my practice.

While this is a tough subject to research I find myself consistently drawn to it.  I am going to be an oncology nurse and like most people, I have a personal connection to the disease.  When researching this topic I found that there is still so much more work to be done in cancer in general.  From research to medications this is a constantly changing field.   I am excited to see some organizations stepping up and addressing issues that others don’t like infertility, and physical fitness for survivors.    I am very excited to see how I can implement and provide some of these resources to my patients in the future.

Proquest Database

Tamura, ., Keiko, ., Kikui, ., Kazuko, ., & Watanabe, . (2006, June). Caring for the spiritual pain of patients with advanced cancer: A phenomenological approach to the lived experience. Palliative and Supportive Care, 4(2), 96-189. doi:http://search.proquest.com/docview/214838783?accountid=14196           

This is a research article that was conducted to investigate the spiritual trials that patients face when suffering from terminal illness.  The study was used to determine how nurses can best care for and provide spiritual support to cancer patients who were in a palliative care situation.

OVIDsp database from SBU libraries

Deshields, T. L., & Nanna, S. K. (2010, September). Providing Care for the "Whole Patient" in the Cancer Setting: The Psycho-Oncology Consultation Model of Patient Care. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 17(3), 57-249. Retrieved March 28, 2012, from OVIDsp (10.1007/s10880-010-9208-1).

This paper discusses and advocates for caring for the “whole patient” in clinical work with cancer patients.  It discussess goals to work on with the patient such as:  reducing stress and symptoms, building on the patients strengths, working on healthy coping strategies, and addressing education needs.  The paper also gives specific interventions that can be used when working with cancer patients.

Overview of nutrition in cancer care.

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/supportivecare/nutrition/Patient/page1

I selected this site based on the fact that is a government moderated cite.  It’s author is a medical doctor who previously wond the nobel prize for study in genetics related to cancer.  The site also has a structured campus in Bethesda, Maryland.

This site gives a host of valuable information for cancer patients and providers.  This page focuses on nutrition in relation to anorexia, weight loss, nausea, and vomiting related to treatment and disease.  They give suggestions for how to treat these issues and as well as food choices that may help the patient gain strength and prevent muscle wasting.

Treatments and side effects

http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/index?ssSourceSiteId=null

The American Cancer Society is a national website and is also associated with local chapters around the country.  They are known for the Relay for Life events and also have a toll-free number where you can reach them at any time.  This organization provides support to many Americans facing cancer.

This page provides an overview of treatment types, clinical trials, guide to cancer drugs, and alternative therapies.  It also addresses the physical and emotional side effects that are part of undergoing treatment for cancer.  Suggestions are provided for how to deal with these problems from a patient and caregiver standpoint.

Oncology Nursing Society:  Clinical Resources

http://www.ons.org/ClinicalResources

This site is run by advanced practice nurses, most holding at least a Master’s degree or P.H.D.    This site covers topics most often requested by nurses.  It is monitored and updated on a constant basis.

A site that provides various links to information that will help in the clinical setting.  The clinical resourses are vast and are not limited to exercise, oral mucositis, oral therapy, safe handling of cancer patients, sleep/wake disturbances, and symptoms specific to certain types of cancer.  This site is geared specifically for nurses working with cancer patients. 

Get help

http://www.livestrong.org/Get-Help

I am a bit partial to this organization because I fundraise for them and attend their annual event in Austin, Texas.  I know who runs the place and where the money goes.  LIVESTRONG was voted in the top ten charities that appropriate their funds properly in 2011.  They provide onsite counseling and services an their headquarters in Austin and phone support for people who are out of the area.

LIVESTRONG addresses some issues that most organizations don’t including infertility, post-cancer sexuality, global awareness of cancer stigma, and support for young adults with cancer.  They are willing to help you understand your options for treatments and find clinical trials that may suit your needs.  The organization can help with healthy eating, what to expect during care, offer financial support, and offer a free journal and planning guide to aide in managing treatment. 

My E-Portfolioi

Well, things are trucking right along in my informatics class (i.e. technology). I have created a blog, a "VOKI," a podcast, and now my online portfolio.  This seems to amount to an online resume.  This class is interesting to say the least. You can check me out here if you like:


http://www.linkedin.com/pub/tami-ford/31/571/765

Health Care Informatics

     Health Informatics is ... the use of computer technologies in

healthcare to store, share, transmit and analyse clinical knowledge

and data (open clinical, 2011 ). Or put more simply it is the use of

information technology in healthcare ( Thede & Sewell, 2010 ). 

Informatics starts with the process of progressing from the old paper

charting system to elaborate electronic health records such as EPIC.

 It continues on by giving us knowledge at our fingertips which

helps us serve our patients more quickly and more effectively.  You

 have to ask yourself what did they do before being able print 

patient education at the click of a button,

 or research a new medication that isn't in your drug book?  Further,

 with newer technologies, medical studies and statistics can be

delivered right to handheld computers in the from of cell phones.

When did this happen? Over night it seems.

      This week in class I have learned how far behind I am in

 technology.  I am still working out how Twitter is different from

Facebook and how having an online portfolio is any simpler than

writing a resume. I did discover that you can participate in live

interactions on twitter which I did not know about.  I have learned

how to Tweet, and reply to Tweets. I am still working on the rest of

it. I have blogged for years with family pictures, long before the

simpler process of Facebook came around.  I am looking forward to

attempting movie maker and you tube. 

     Word processing is my strongest skill in informatics. This is a

skill you must have to be a college student in 2012.  It is really a

skill that you must have in general.  When accessing all of my

skills, you will find that I repeat myself when I say I have learned

by trial and error.  The last computer class I took was in 1995.

 Things have come a long way, but fortunately word processing is

 one of the programs that hasn't changed much.  I did well on this

assessment and I am not surprised.  It is the one I use the most.
  

    Excel is certainly my weakest link.  I vaguely remember this

part of my last computer class.   I am not sure what I could do with

excel today because it has been so long since I have used it.  I am

not surprised that I didn't know how to do most of the skills

mentioned in this assessment. I know how to make a table with

excel and that is about it.

     Powerpoint has become a system that I am using more often. I

 learned most of powerpoint by trial and error during the course of

nursing school.  It takes me longer than most people to use it

because I am so unfamiliar with the program but in the end I can get

 it done.  I recently learned to put music to a powerpoint and that

was a big accomplishment.

       My basic computer skills have gotten better over the past

few years.  I can no longer rely on my husband to fix problems

when they arise because I am usually working at a strange hour. I

used to call on him for every little thing that came up with the

computer. I now know how to get through the trouble shooting

process on my own and can usually get things up and running

again.  I am not surprised that I still have a lot to learn but again, if I

 have the time to just sit and work on it, I can usually figure things

out. 

     I think my web skills are pretty good.  Before they had blogs

and facebook, I used to have an actual website. I built it from

scratch myself, buying my own domain name even. That was years

 ago and I could probably never do it now.  I do blog and use

facebook as well as using the web for a lot of school assignments.  I

 can navigate around pretty well and have learned how to use the

 web for my educational benefit.  There are some web-based sites

that I find not so user friendly and hard to navigate. One is our

school library, but I always manage to find my way.

   My hope is that this class will help me to refresh some of my

computer skills.  Excel is a big one and I have so much more to

learn about powerpoint as well. I cannot see me taking an additional

computer class to learn this as the programs are written so user

friendly.  A little extra time and perseverance are usually all I need

 to learn a program I am not familiar with. 

     The competency I think is most important in informatics is web

skills. Everything we do today revolves around the internet. It's kind

 of a scary thought but that is the main place we get our

information.  My kids constant refrain is "well, let's look it up on

the internet." They are eight and seven years old.  It is getting

harder and harder to remember the days of pre- world wide

web.  The information we can get at our fingertips now would have

been impossible 20 years ago.

References  

Thede, L., & Sewell, J. (2010). Informatics and Nursing (Third ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Health Informatics. (2011, September 14). In www.openclinical.org. Retrieved March 5, 2012

To the future!

......May 17th, 2012 to be exact. That is when I will be graduating from nursing school after more blood, sweat, and tears than I care to discuss. Fortunately, the blood was rarely mine, unless you count those fun IV sticks and flu shots.   Now we have moved on to code blues (not real ones, thank goodness) and prepping, planning, reviewing, studying, and then the actual prep for the NCLEX to RN examination that comes post graduation. The next couple of months will be jam packed with fun, excitement,and at least 3,000 review questions. In that time I will also be working towards my bachelor's degree in what is proving to be an interesting class.  That is what brings me to this blog!  I am studying technology and how it affects students as well as new nurses.  Things have changed a lot since I was a college student a while back (okay, a long while back--something around 13 years!).  We still had to WALK to our instructor's office to look for our test scores posted on their door!  Can the younger generation even imagine that?  Needless to say I am now rather glad I stuck with this class. I will have to learn how to use Youtube, which I would have never done.  I better hang on though because this might get a little bumpy!