Canadian oncology nursing journal = Revue canadienne de nursing oncologique
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Day surgery and recovery in women with a suspicious breast lesion: evaluation of a psychoeducational nursing intervention.
The study assessed whether a nursing intervention based on self-regulation theory, the Attentional Focus and Symptom Management Intervention (AFSMI), could help women who underwent day surgery for breast cancer to achieve better pain management and decreased emotional distress. The sample consisted of 117 patients with breast cancer who were outpatients and undergoing surgery as part of the initial treatment for their cancer. All subjects were interviewed at three different occasions. ⋯ Results showed significant differences between the experimental and control group at post-test on home management, total mood disturbance, confusion and tension scores implying that the intervention was effective in achieving these outcomes. Clinical significance has illustrated that a nursing intervention applied during immediate recovery of breast cancer surgery is quite clinically relevant to reduce emotional distress. Self-regulation theory could effectively be used as a guide in developing nursing intervention programs in practice for patients with cancer undergoing day surgery as a primary treatment.
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A phenomenological research method was used to investigate the experience of lymphedema in 13 women following breast cancer-related treatment. The women, ranging in age from 45 to 82, living on the east coast of Canada, had lymphedema of the upper extremity for at least one year, and had no evidence of active cancer disease. Semi-structured interviews were used to examine the physical and psychosocial suffering that women with lymphedema experienced. ⋯ These non-sequential steps assisted in identifying five major themes: 1) Constancy; 2) Yearning for Normalcy; 3) Continually Searching; 4) Emotional Impact; and 5) Abandonment. The prevailing thread or essence salient to all five themes in this study is denoted as Existential Aloneness as each participant expressed a sense of isolation, of being on their own, of being set adrift to discover what they could about lymphedema, in the best way that they could. Nursing implications and recommendations for change are highlighted.