Chemotherapy Research Paper

Since chemotherapy agents have been around in the 1950s there have been studies to find out the effect on the health care workers, particularly the pharmacists who make the drugs and nurses who administer the drugs to the patients. I will be focusing my research on the nurses who administer the chemotherapy drugs to the patients. Chemotherapy falls under the hazardous drug category due to the low levels of exposure nurses are exposed to while administering chemotherapy.

Medical costs are getting too expensive. Ever fought with your insurance providers because they refused to pay for care, or struggle to find an “in-network” provider? I know a woman whose name I will change for her privacy and the struggles she is going through are a perfect example of an issue many people face when dealing with insurance; Nancy’s (name changed for privacy) story is a perfect example of how our healthcare system is no longer working for the people. Nancy is this woman whose husband recently passed away. Nancy used to work for county and county workers cannot receive social security; and Nancy is too

Before chemotherapy the survival rate of people with cancer was lower. Cancer cannot be eliminated by natural resources; however, there is a way for someone who has had it to prevent it from coming back. It has been proven that if you get cancer it is likely to come back between 6 to 10 times. You can prevent this by eating healthy. By eating healthy you strengthen your immune system allowing it to be able to fight and destroy the cancer cells living in your body. Chemotherapy has helped society by helping save millions, maybe even billions of peoples’ lives. In my opinion I think that scientist, chemist, and oncologist

Brian became aware of his testicular cancer five years ago. Despite insurance, Brian still owed thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs. Over the course of three years, he built relationships with nurses, doctors, and the hospital staff during treatments and follow up appointments. Without warning or explanation, the insurance company no longer accepted his hospital as a provider under their plans. He doubted any other hospital staff could provide the physical and emotional support his previous providers gave and wondered how to replace the people who had been there during the toughest times of his life (Salmon). The current health care system in America affects people physically, emotionally, and financially. “Costs are enormous, yet Americans do not fare better, and often fare worse, than citizens in countries which spend substantially less on health care” (Cicconi).

Not having health insurance makes a difference in people’s access to needed medical care and their financial security. The barriers the uninsured face in getting the care that they need means they are less likely to receive preventive care, are more likely to be hospitalized for conditions that could have been prevented, and are more likely to die in the hospital than those with insurance.  The financial impact can also be severe. Uninsured families already struggle financially to meet basic needs, and medical bills, even for minor problems, can quickly lead to medical debt. (McCarter, 2011)

The ever rising cost of healthcare has made access to healthcare almost impossible to many households in the United States. That these households have stagnant incomes has further complicated issues (Collins, 2008). Many working families without insurance cover have been forced to pay for their own medical expenses that consume lion share of their incomes. Individuals have been forced to forfeit healthcare because of its inherent costs. The lower-income and middle-income families are a very vulnerable lot because they are either uninsured or underinsured (Collins, 2008).

With the health care system the way it was structured it seemed, as the only way a person could get adequate health care is if you either did not get sick or made enough money to pay the costly medical bills if you did constantly visit the doctor. The number one reason for families in America to fall into bankruptcy was noted as being medical bills and cost, quite frankly any person facing a potential life threatening illness is going to seek medical help and is not going to worry about the cost if it means life or death. An when you are living with either no insurance of your condition causes you to be bumped from your insurance provider because you’ve become to expensive for them seems almost

According to the American Cancer Society, half of all men and one third of all women will develop cancer within their lifetime (Cancer.org). These figures are staggering. Cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and is a terrifying and unpredictable disease for many cancer sufferers. As such, it is imperative that healthcare workers have a thorough understanding of the various cancer diagnoses, treatments, and preventative strategies necessary to combat this devastating plague. Skills at managing not only the illness itself, but also the psychological and social side effects

Often, curable diseases or conditions are not diagnosed in the early stages and are allowed to become life threatening before care is sought. Patients are then forced to undergo extensive and costly treatments which may be too late to render any relief and often result in a premature loss of life. The uninsured or underinsured patients or families are then left with staggering medical bills to pay. Reports indicate that up to 60% of all bankruptcies are the direct result of outstanding medical related debt.

Financial or health problems may result in loss of a home, social status or independence in adults. Patients should be asked about primary source of income, living arrangements and with whom they live as well as family dynamic and whether he or she is the primary income producer for the family. According to Barkley, the economic profile of many elderly is poor accounting one in every six elderly live below the poverty line in U. S. (2014). If the patient has to pay out of pocket over the amount they can afford, it is more likely that he or she will not follow up with treatment regiment or future appointments. Obtaining such information early will help practitioners to develop plan of care accordingly and provide additional resource referrals that patients may

Even though there are uninsured individuals, “more than 80 percent of uninsured people come from working families (Souza, 2007)”. Many of these people have the means to pay for hospital services but are not required to pay out of their

This book refers a single point that all cancer patients die because of poor medical care. According to author neither rich nor poor are getting close to optimum care considered by him. He says rich suffer from over medicating and unnecessary treatment while poor suffer from inability to access health care. Brawley’s efforts to address the workings of the “cancer industry” and the ways in which it fails patients. This, to me, is the real

With no health insurance or being underinsured, individuals struggle to afford necessary health care. The Commonwealth Fund, an organization aimed at improving the quality and access to health care, publishes the stories of many uninsured Americans. One story that caught my eye was the experience of Toni; an uninsured 30-year-old woman suffering from fibrocystic breast disease and prediabetes. Toni is a divorced mom raising her two teenage children on a salary of $850/month from her bakery job in the rural Mississippi Delta. Toni was diagnosed with fibrocystic breast disease when she noticed large lumps on her breast, which continue to accumulate. The tumors lead to frequent, painful infections that require a $1,000 antibiotic treatment, which ends up being more than one month’s pay. Additionally, the tumors lead to other uncomfortable symptoms that tend to interfere with her job, such as fluid leak from her breasts and extreme pain. She can have surgery to remove the tumors and reduce her pain, but she cannot afford the surgery without insurance. Also, Toni frequently skips her necessary bi-yearly mammograms and routine care checkups due to the cost. These appointments are important because fibrocystic breast disease puts her at an increased risk for breast cancer. Lastly, Toni has prediabetes,

* My family has also struggled to manage a family health insurance policy as they are very expensive. In most instances, the family has to top up the medical bill as the medical cover is not adequate. The realization that an unforeseen illness can drain the family’s finances motivates all family members to be cautious of their health.

Several methods such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy have been used to treat cancers. The cancer patients who are not helped