How do patients want to be involved in cancer decision making?
Participation style in decision making represents how much patients want to be involved in the decision-making process related to their cancer. Studies of patient desire to participate in treatment decisions have yielded conflicting results, largely depending on how participation in decision making is defined.
How often should I see a doctor after cancer treatment?
The type of cancer you had The treatment you received Your overall health, including possible treatment-related problems In general, people return to the doctor for follow-up appointments every 3 to 4 months during the first 2 to 3 years after treatment, and once or twice a year after that.
What happens during a cancer follow-up visit?
These visits are also a time to check for physical and emotional problems that may occur months or years after treatment ends. Your follow-up care plan, along with a summary of your cancer treatment, is part of what is called a survivorship care plan.
How do I choose a doctor for follow-up cancer care?
Choose your doctor. For follow-up cancer care, you may see the same doctor who treated you for cancer, or you may see another health care provider, such as one who specializes in follow-up care for cancer survivors. Or you may decide to go to your primary care doctor. You can discuss which doctor (s) to see with your health care team.
How to make a reasonable treatment decision?
To make a reasonable treatment decision, keep in mind the type of cancer you have, its stage, what treatment options are available and how likely these treatments are to work under these circumstances. Talk to your doctor about trustworthy websites, books and patient education materials to supplement your discussions.
How to make sure you're getting the information you need to make an informed decision?
Effective communication with your doctor is the best way to make sure you're getting the information you need to make an informed decision. To make communicating with your doctor easier, try to: Speak up when you don't understand. If you need further explanation or clarification, tell your doctor.
What to do if you don't feel supported?
If you don't feel supported in your decision-making, contact advocacy groups such as the American Cancer Society, which can put you in touch with cancer survivors who may be able to help you through this process. It might help to write down your expectations and preferences before you meet with your doctor.
Can you cure cancer?
When you're first diagnosed, it's likely you'll be interested in treatments that cure cancer. When a cure is possible, you may be willing to endure more short-term side effects in return for the chance at a cure. Ask your doctor about your chances for a cure to help you understand more about your situation. Control.
What is the most effective way to prevent the spread of infection from one patient to another?
wash one's hands after each patient. The medical assistant's most effective means of preventing the spread of infection from one patient to another is to. are derived from animal sources and are usually solid at room temperature. [Saturated fats are found in milk, meat, and butter.
When initiating tasks, does Erikson believe that the conflict is initiative versus guilt?
guilt when initiating tasks. [Erikson believed that at ages three to six years , the conflict is initiative versus guilt] According to Erikson's stages of development, a four-year-old boy who is not allowed to initiate some tasks by himself will later show. a placebo.
How does information seeking affect cancer patients?
In several studies, information-seeking has been found to have beneficial effects on increased compliance, increased patient satisfaction, improved quality of life, and reduced distress. [ 14, 16, 17] Although many patients have high information needs, some patients want less information about their cancer.
Why do nurses spend more time with patients than do their physician counterparts?
Nurses play a vital role in supporting the patient through the crisis of cancer. Nurses are frequently left to pick up the pieces after physicians have delivered bad news or explained information about an illness. Questions such as “How bad is it?” or “How long do I have to live?” are often posed to nurses by patients who either are reluctant to bother the doctor or feel uncomfortable about asking for information. Nurses play a vital role on the treatment team, advocating for patients and acting as intermediaries for patient requests or concerns. Thus, teamwork between physicians and nurses is essential. However, role and status differences between nurse and physician can sometimes make communication challenging.
Why is communication important in cancer care?
Therefore, communication and the provider’s relationship with the patient and the patient’s family are particularly important in providing support through the crisis of cancer. Cancer care can also be emotionally taxing on the oncologists who must frequently give bad news and deal with dying and death.
Why should patient-centered approaches be shifted to family-centered approaches?
Some therefore believe that patient-centered approaches emphasizing patient autonomy in medical decision making should be shifted to family-centered approaches because most decision making in health care is carried out in the context of family care and obligation.
Why do doctors communicate with dying patients?
Communicating with dying patients can be complicated by practitioners’ own reactions such as anxiety, sadness, and frustration, [ 7] combined with the historic tendency in Western medicine to focus on cure. The data from one study suggest additional reasons. Physicians strive to achieve a delicate balance between providing honest information and doing so in a sensitive way that does not discourage hope. [ 29] Physicians may fear that the revelation of a grim prognosis may psychologically damage patients’ hopes and may diminish their will to survive through a form of prophecy. This fear is consistent with a Western cultural assumption that one needs hope to battle cancer. Physicians are also uncomfortable with putting odds on longevity, recurrence, and cure because they do not know when or how individual patients will die. [ 11] In one study, [ 30 ] [ Level of evidence: II] hope was a constant theme of the respondents. However, many patients do not measure hope solely in terms of cure, but hope may represent achieving goals, having family and oncologist support, and receiving the best treatment available. [ 30, 31]
Why are nurses important?
Nurses play an important role in supporting patients through the crisis of cancer and play an important role in today’s multidisciplinary cancer team. They perform key functions at almost every stage of the cancer trajectory. Clinic and inpatient nurses are frequently the first clinical contacts for patients and family members and, through their initial interactions, set the tone for the support the patient will receive throughout his or her care. Nurses are important sources of information about procedures, treatments, and other aspects of patient care. Spending more time with the patient than do physician members of the treatment team, nurses are frequently the most trusted member of the cancer team when it comes to obtaining information, and they serve as advocates for the patient when important and sensitive questions such as “How bad is it?” or “How long do I have to live?” arise. Nurses must also attend to patient and family emotional needs after bad news is given and deal first with other emotionally draining situations, such as angry patients or family members or patients who are withdrawn and depressed. Advanced practice nurses provide direct patient care, often acting as physician extenders and managing much of the day-to-day care of the patient.
Why is informed consent important?
[ 8, 9] The aim of informed consent is to emphasize more effective communication between patients and physicians, where information disclosure and patient participation in decision making are the goals rather than the notions of an administrative requirement to have patients sign a document or to protect a physician from legal liability. [ 10] Such a dialogue would also allow the clinician to determine how much information a patient actually desires and would respect the patient’s right to shun information that might be unwanted. [ 10, 11]
How often do you go to the doctor after cancer treatment?
Your overall health, including possible treatment-related problems. In general, people return to the doctor for follow-up appointments every 3 to 4 months during the first 2 to 3 years after treatment, and once or twice a year after that.
What are the programs that specialize in long term follow up care for cancer survivors?
Some cancer centers and hospitals have programs that specialize in long-term follow-up care for cancer survivors. Many NCI-Designated Cancer Centers and large community treatment centers offer some form of survivorship program or clinic for adults who have been treated for cancer.
What is a pathology report?
Pathology report (s) that describe the type and stage of cancer in detail. Places and dates of each treatment, such as the details of all surgeries; the sites and total amounts of radiation therapy; and the names and doses of chemotherapy and all other drugs. Key lab reports, x-ray reports, CT scans, and MRI reports.
What is follow up care plan?
A follow-up care plan is a summary of your treatment, along with recommendations for your cancer care after treatment ends. Your plan may also include suggestions to help meet other needs, such as emotional, social, or financial issues. Choose your doctor. For follow-up cancer care, you may see the same doctor who treated you for cancer, ...
Why was the Focus study created?
The FOCUS study was created to better understand the many aspects and quality of follow-up care, to document the prevalence of late and long-term effects of cancer and its treatment, to understand survivors’ knowledge of late and long-term effects, and to study health-related quality of life and behaviors in long-term survivors.
Can you see the same doctor for cancer?
For follow-up cancer care, you may see the same doctor who treated you for cancer, or you may see another health care provider, such as one who specializes in follow-up care for cancer survivors. Or you may decide to go to your primary care doctor. You can discuss which doctor (s) to see with your health care team.
Can you share a test with one doctor?
Some research has shown that sometimes treatments or tests with one doctor aren't shared with the other doctor. Ask both your doctors to send clinic visit notes to each other so everyone can be on the same page. Follow-up care for childhood cancer survivors is very similar to the steps for adults.
How soon after cancer diagnosis can you start treatment?
Most people want to start treatment right away. They worry that the extra time taken to do tests or make decisions will take up precious time that could be spent fighting the cancer. Cancer treatment should start very soon after diagnosis, but for most cancers, it won’t hurt to wait a few weeks to begin treatment.
What happens when you have cancer?
When a person has cancer, they go through different stages. Your understanding and your care will change over time, too. There will be times when you don’t know what will happen next, and with an illness as serious as cancer, that’s a scary place to be. But there are no guarantees in cancer care.
Why do we need a second opinion?
A second opinion can give the person with cancer more information and help them feel more confident about choosing a treatment plan. Learn more in Seeking a Second Opinion.
What is supportive care for cancer?
Sometimes called palliative care, supportive care helps keep people with cancer from having severe pain, nausea, or other symptoms. It’s care that aims to treat symptoms, not cancer. It helps the person feel as good as possible for as long as possible. The person who refuses cancer care may be open to hospice.
How long does it take to find out if you have cancer?
It can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to find out if it’s cancer and, if so, what kind of cancer. This is a difficult time for the patient as well as for loved ones who are aware of the possibility of cancer. Some notice that they think of worst-case scenarios and wonder if they’ll lose their loved one.
How to stay healthy after cancer?
Remember to take care of yourself, as well as the person with cancer. Find ways to help yourself relax. Make time for regular exercise, and be as active as you can.
Can cancer treatment be short?
Treatment can be long or fairly short, but even short treatments tend to disrupt a person’s life for several weeks. As the caregiver, your life and your family’s lives may be disrupted, too. You may find that you need to take time off from work. See If You Are About to Become a Cancer Caregiver for more on this.
