A Sense of Meaninglessness and Disconnectedness: Addressing Spiritual Distress Among Cancer Survivors

“I lost a critical year of my life, and now I can’t move forward. I feel stuck. My life is passing me by, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do anymore.”

This quote is from a composite case example that focuses on the spiritual distress experienced by some cancer survivors. Treatment may be over with, and the prognosis may be excellent. All signs may point to the probability of a cancer-free future. But after confronting a potentially life-threatening diagnosis, many survivors struggle with a sense of meaninglessness or disconnectedness.

In “Assessing and Managing Spiritual Distress in Cancer Survivorship” in the January issue of AJN, Timiya Nolan and colleagues explore the concept of spiritual distress and its impact on a person’s quality of life.

A topic that often goes unaddressed.

The authors emphasize the need for clinicians to actively screen for this problem and learn how to initiate conversations with patients. Clinicians are often reluctant to raise the issue of spiritual well-being, and thus wait for survivors to voice any spiritual concerns. While this approach is effective in some cases, if the conversation never occurs, the survivor’s spiritual needs may be unmet. […]

2020-01-16T10:15:37-05:00January 16th, 2020|Nursing, patient experience, Patients|0 Comments

Simple Intervention Decreases Oral Mucositis from Head and Neck Cancer Treatment

A painful effect of cancer treatment.

Nurse Cindy Dawson provides patient education on oral care kit used in a nurse-led intervention to reduce oral mucositis severity in adults treated for head and neck cancer. Photo courtesy of Kay Klein.

Years ago, when I worked with patients being treated for head and neck cancer who had been admitted for one reason or another, I felt helpless in the face of their extremely uncomfortable oral mucositis. None of our topical concoctions seemed to bring much relief to these patients, who had often endured disfiguring surgery as well.

While there is as yet no perfect solution to this uncomfortable side effect from the radiation or chemotherapy used to treat head and neck cancers, a group of oncology staff nurses and their colleagues have demonstrated that a consistent, standardized approach to oral care for these patients may significantly alleviate the pain of this almost universal treatment effect.

Consistent, standardized oral care.

After reviewing the literature on oral care, Cullen and colleagues enhanced their usual patient teaching with […]

New CE for Nurses: Understanding the Origins of the Obesity Epidemic

By Gaulsstin/via Wikimedia Commons By Gaulsstin/via Wikimedia Commons

One of our two December feature CE articles, “The Obesity Epidemic, Part 1: Understanding the Origins,” is about a pervasive and complex issue that nurses see the health consequences of in every practice setting:

. . . more than 35% of adults and 16% of children ages two to 18 are obese. Obesity disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minorities as well as people at lower income and educational levels, though it is prevalent among men and women in every segment of society. Obese children and adults are at risk for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal dysfunction, and certain types of cancer. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates the annual national health care expenditure on obesity to be about $147 billion, with per capita spending on obese people averaging $1,429 more than spending on individuals of normal weight.

Knowledge about this epidemic continues to evolve. This article is part 1 of a two-part series and provides readers a concise overview of current theories about the pathophysiologic, psychological, and social factors that influence weight control. As the overview points out, ” [t]o contribute to obesity’s treatment and prevention, nurses must be conversant in a wide range of theoretical and clinical perspectives on the problem.” […]

Using Evidence-Based Practice to Reduce CAUTIs

By Karen Roush, AJN clinical managing editor

Using evidence-based practice to . . .

Fill in the blank. There’s something on your unit that could be improved—the rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), the engagement of family in care, the readmission rate of patients with heart failure, patient satisfaction with pain management. Whatever it may be, you have the ability to improve it. This month we have a CE article (link is below) about an evidence-based practice (EBP) project to reduce catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs).

Scanning electron micrograph of S. aureus bacteria on the luminal surface of an indwelling catheter with interwoven complex matrix of extracellular polymeric substances known as a biofilm/ CDC Scanning electron micrograph of S. aureus bacteria on the luminal surface of an indwelling catheter with interwoven complex matrix of extracellular polymeric substances known as a biofilm/ CDC

The really interesting thing about this article, and what makes it especially helpful for beginner quality improvers out there, is that it doesn’t just describe an effective project to reduce CAUTIs. It also describes how to do an EBP project, step-by-step. The author, Tina Magers, a novice EBP mentor, followed the seven steps outlined in AJN’s Evidence-Based Practice series and describes the actions involved in each step. It’s a great how-to on applying evidence to practice. Here’s the overview/abstract of this useful June CE article, “Using Evidence-Based Practice to Reduce Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections”:

Overview: In […]

2017-05-27T10:29:02-04:00May 31st, 2013|nursing perspective|0 Comments
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