HOLISTIC CARE FOR CANCER PATIENT

HOLISTIC CARE FOR CANCER PATIENT

In recent years, cancer represents one of the leading causes of death worldwide. It is estimated that as much as 8.2 million of deaths due to cancer occurred in the year 2012, whereas about 171,000 new cases of cancer occur every year. Moreover, it is expected that new cases of cancer will increase by 70% over the next two decades.

Google Image: Cancer

Nurses in Oncology are required to offer care for the entire course of the patient with cancer, including the processes of diagnosis, treatment, possible recurrence, survival period, palliative care and assisting in a peaceful death. The contribution of nurses is crucial throughout this journey (“cancer journey”), since this is based on the concept of holistic care and on continuous attendance of the patient and his family, but additionally on close collaboration with the other members of the multidisciplinary team.

The needs of patients with cancer generally involve the following areas: physical, psychological, social, financial and information needs, spiritual or religious issues, family relationships, emotional concerns, practical issues (employment, training, preparation of meals, etc.) or other everyday life issues. These requirements are similar in patients who have just been diagnosed with cancer, in patients receiving treatment and also in patients after their treatment. (Reference: Maria Lavdaniti, 2017)

Cancer Treatment
So,what kind of cancer treatment that patient usually got to cure, reduce, or remove the cancer are;

1. Chemotherapy uses medications to treat cancer. Chemotherapy medications can be given to you in different ways.
2. Radiation uses radiation beams to kill cancer cells. Radiation is able to treat certain areas that sometimes cannot be reached with chemotherapy. Radiation can be given externally or internally and at different intensities, depending on your diagnosis.
3. Immunotherapy (biologic therapy or biotherapy) uses the immune system to fight disease, including cancer. This can be done in different ways: for example, stimulating your own immune system to work harder or smarter, or giving your immune system components, such as man-made immune system proteins.

The role of nurses is important as far as the supportive care of patients is concerned. In order to support cancer patients, nurses need to identify different physio-psycho-social needs of patients using a holistic approach. The philosophy of nursing invites nurses to nurture people to achieve holistic health and to adopt an approach that incorporates and integrates all aspects of their life into care decision making. Focusing on Quality of Life (QoL) is congruent with the philosophy of a holistic approach in nursing. Perceptions that nurses form about cancer patients’ QoL provide nurses with the best possible opportunity to identify needs, make decisions and select appropriate actions to be more therapeutic in their supportive roles and to improve patients’ QoL. Conversely, without a full understanding of patients’ QoL, decision making about patient care would not be optimal. (Reference: Masoud Bahrami, PhD, 2010).

The role of the nurse in psychosocial support of patients is vital. Installation of good communication is necessary at this point so as the nurse can understand the way the patient perceive him, what is important to him and how his relationships with others affect his decisions during treatment and after the completion of therapy. Developing of communication between the nurse and the patient's family is also important, so as the patient can have full support during the course of treatment. It has been shown previously that psychosocial care is beneficial in reducing psychological distress and the stress caused to the patient by the physical symptoms and also in improving quality of life.

Crucial for the provision of psycho-social care is the development of communication skills (verbal and nonverbal), creating an enabling environment so as the patient can feel comfortable and safe to be reached. This nurse-patient relationship should be based on trust, honesty, understanding, respect and reciprocal objectives. Reporting of the disease, depending on patient's age and type of cancer, and the education of the patient and its family should be tailored to their needs. 

The nurses provide holistic care in order to contribute to the treatment of patients with cancer. The aim of all their efforts is to achieve for their patients a better quality of life at all stages of the disease. For the success of this goal, the best use of available and wellestablished scientific data in everyday clinical practice is crucial. Furthermore, the education of nurses also plays an important role and it should be oriented to holistic care. The needs of cancer patients are many and the most important outcome of any oncology nurse training program should be the effort to improve patient care.(Reference: Maria Lavdaniti, 2017)

Restu Ayu S, November, Semarang.