Cancer nursing
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Cancer pain is estimated to occur in 30% to 70% of patients with early-stage cancer and 60% to 95% with advanced cancer. Current research shows that cancer pain continues to be undertreated despite the availability of analgesics and established guidelines to maximize their effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to describe oncology patients' pain experience during an episode of hospitalization with particular emphasis on exploring the relationship between oncology patients' beliefs about pain and the treatment they received. ⋯ Patients who held this belief reported higher current pain, worst pain intensity, and higher average pain intensity in the previous 24 hours. Effective pain management in the inpatient oncology setting continues to be an important clinical issue, and patients do not receive all available pain treatment. There may be an important association between patients' beliefs about pain and pain management and the pain management they receive.
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Intraoperative mapping is a well-established and safe technique to maximize the excision of tumors involving the eloquent cortex while minimizing neurological damage. Although different techniques are used, very little has been documented about how the patients feel, what they think about, or how they approach this type of surgery without an anesthetic. Considering the inconsistency of literature, a phenomenology study was conducted with the purpose to describe the human experience of patients before, during, and immediately after awake craniotomy. ⋯ It is most important for a healthcare team to understand the patients' experiences. Immediately before and after surgery, the patients seem to concentrate more on keeping their emotions in check and focus on the risk of subsequent defect or disability, rather than on the brain cancer and what it may imply on life. During the surgery, they become particularly involved in the task: they feel directly responsible for the results of surgery relating this to the effectiveness of collaboration with the neurosurgeons.
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The objective of this study was to describe end-stage disease in patients suffering from advanced head and neck cancer (hnc). It is one of the most unpleasant and agonizing way a person may die and is a challenging problem for all involved with its treatment. Until today, only few detailed information about the final phase of life of hnc patients in a hospice setting are available. ⋯ The goal of palliative treatment of terminal hnc patients is offering the most convenient way to "live" the final days of their lives in dignity. The short survival time in hospice indicates that incurable patients may be referred to terminal care institutions too late in their dying trajectory. Physicians should be encouraged to talk to their terminally ill patients about the status and incurability of the disease as early as possible to facilitate patient and family decision making on how to prepare for the impending end of life.