Working As An Intern Caring For Patients With Cancer On The Adjunctive Cancer Care

This author’s personal perceptions concerning patients facing a lingering terminal illness, have been shaped by over 20 years of critical care nursing experience. Facing death and illness on a daily basis requires self-examination and a high degree of comfort with one’s own mortality, limits and values. Constant exposure to the fragility of life forces respect for the whole person and the people who love them. A general approach to patients who are actively dying is to allow them to define what they want and need during this time. The nurse’s role

I started my internship at Lopburi Cancer Hospital in Thailand with excitement and anxiety. “What stage is the cancer in?” I asked in an effort to leave a good impression of the attending physician as we rounded with patients. In my mind, the prognosis for cancer wasn’t a good one and making a patient comfortable was important. However, as I stood waiting on the answer to my question, which my attending had declined to

1.1 Caring for patients at the end of life is a challenging task that requires not only the consideration of the patient as a whole but also an understanding of the family, social, legal, economic, and institutional circumstances that surround patient care.

Caring for patients at the end of life is a challenging task that requires not only the consideration of the individual as a whole but also an understanding of the

Through my nursing practice, I was on a team caring a patient who we will refer to as John. John was a middle-aged Aboriginal gentleman. He was hospitalized due to end-stage liver failure, secondary to alcohol abuse. As a result, John was receiving end of life comfort care. While in the room with John, the nurses were always very considerate of him and provided him with adequate end of life care. However, as soon as the nurses would leave the room, they would discuss his condition with other nurses. This included talking about how they don’t feel empathetic for him or enjoy caring for

Tis means that the cancer cells are only growing in the most superficial layer of tissue, without growing into deeper tissues. This is also known as in situ cancer or pre-cancer.

The JFK Cancer Institute has an outstanding Oncology team that works closely with patients to ensure the best possible experience during what can be a very difficult at the time.

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

I desire to become a Certified Nurse Assistant in order to form the building blocks for a lifelong career in the medical field. With the experience I’ll gain from shadowing the CNA’s at the nursing home, I will be able to decide what route I want to pursue in the medical profession. One of the fundamental lessons that will be taught by my instructors is to establish a compassionate relationship with my future patients. I am fortunate enough to have a strong relationship with people whom are major components in the medical industry. My two older sisters, one a doctor and the other a CNA, have left lasting impressions on how rewarding a career in the medical field

As I contemplate why I have chosen to pursue a Master’s of Science in Nursing degree and become a Family Nurse Practitioner I reflect on a time when I was practicing as a nursing assistant in an assisted living. As a nursing assistant I spent a lot of time with my patients while performing my duties, throughout this time I developed relationships with my patients. At a time when nurses were not staffed 24/7, nursing assistants were the ones sitting bedside and caring for the patient as they took their last breath. We were the ones who called family members in cases of emergency. A professional relationship based on trust and respect was formed between caregivers, patients and families.

I felt a stronger connection between the patient and me more than the patient with the intern. It may be have been because we were both Spanish. He liked the intern, but it was more about getting treatments done. While getting treated by the intern, the patient would discuss his family, his wife, and moving to Florida. Within treatments I developed some type of counter transference and the patient some type of transference. I always maintain professional behavior and I was more a listener and show sympathy towards him.

I have seen this concern with multiple terminally ill patients and their family first hand. After reading The Four Things That Matter Most, I am starting to become more aware of my patients and their family expressing love and appreciation for one another. I have witnessed them using the four phrases to say their goodbyes in their own way. “Saying the four things is important for our ongoing relationships to the people we lose through death. One day, after we die, our children and loved ones will benefit from having said the four things to us” (Byock, 2004, p. 13). I will continue to say these four phrases to my loved ones. One thing that I have learned from personal loss, you never know when it will be the last time you can express how you feel to someone you love. Death is unknown and can be imminent. I hope that I can use what I have learned from this book to continue to help my patients and their family make their own relationships

As a potential student of the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, I will dedicate my time to upholding the values of CCNM and those of Naturopathic medicine, learning and engaging with professors and peers, and continuing to grow in terms of my commitment to community. I believe that my training as an EMT and a Resident Assistant combined with my innate desire to help others will make me an asset to the College and the profession. I am excited and committed to pursuing a career as a naturopathic doctor.

During my first semester student clinical rotation, I was introduced to patient, 76 year old AB who was being treated at an assisted living facility. She was a wonderful patient and someone I immediately connected with. AB had been medically diagnosed with COPD and displayed all the classic physical signs of the disease such as wheezing, deliberate breathing, severe shortness of breath and nutritional deficit. She was my first patient as a student nurse and the first person I was able to complete a health assessment and nursing care plan for. I recognized early on that AB was special and someone who would be a great person to communicate with. With the initial assessment she was a little scared, but

Bibliographic information: Richard C. Cardoso & Peter J. Gerngross & Theresa M. Hofstede & Donna M. Weber & Mark S. Chambers. Support Care Cancer (2014) 22:259–267 DOI 10.1007/s00520-013-1960-y.