Cervical cancer is a devastating illness that affects women all over the world and continues to represent a serious threat to their health. Over 13,000 new instances of cervical cancer are detected each year, and over 4,000 women die from the illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Das, 2022). In order to minimize the occurrence of cervical cancer, the World Health Organization (WHO) has published recommendations for the detection and management of cervical pre-cancer lesions. These guidelines offer a framework for healthcare practitioners to operate within. The relevance of the recommendations to the Advanced Practice Nurses (APN’s) function, the PICO criteria, the credibility and effect of the guidelines, and the impact on quality improvement and bioethical principles will all be discussed in this paper’s critical analysis of the WHO guidelines for cervical cancer prevention.
Significance of Cervical Cancer in the APN’s Role
Healthcare professionals must inform, counsel, and test women to help them recognize cervical cancer’s early symptoms. The likelihood of favorable outcomes can be considerably increased and the number of deaths from this malignancy can be decreased with early identification and treatment. In order to improve women’s health, it is critical to evaluate how well cervical cancer screening and treatment programs are working. Process measurements, structural measures, and outcome measures are the three different categories of cervical cancer measures (Alam et al., 2021). Process measurements are concerned with the procedures taken to provide the service, such as the number of women tested for cervical cancer in a given year. Structural measurements evaluate the resources available to provide the service, such as screening facilities and skilled employees. Outcome measurements assess the service’s influence on the patient, such as the reduction in the number of cervical cancer cases or deaths. Structural measurements evaluate cervical cancer screening and treatment resources such as screening facilities, trained workers, and essential equipment. APNs play a crucial role in ensuring that women have access to high-quality cervical cancer screening services (Campbell et al., 2020). Outcome metrics assess the influence on patient health, such as fewer cases and deaths and higher quality of life. APNs may utilize these metrics to analyze resources and measure the impact on women’s health, therefore contributing to high-quality care and lowering cervical cancer incidence and mortality.
Formulating a Clinical Question using the PICO Framework
The PICO framework aids in identifying the important components of a clinical issue. The components are; the population of interest, the intervention under study, the comparison group, and the desired result (Nishikawa-Pacher, 2022). These elements combine to form a well-structured and focused clinical question. The clinical question about the WHO recommendations for cervical cancer screening and treatment is: “Does following the WHO guidelines for cervical cancer screening and treatment result in a reduction in the number of cases and deaths linked to cervical cancer in women over the age of 30” (World Health Organization, 2021)? This question focuses on the population of women over the age of 30 and the intervention under consideration, which adheres to WHO criteria for cervical cancer screening and treatment. The emphasis is on the intervention’s impact rather than a comparison to another technique. The reduction in the number of cases and fatalities due to cervical cancer is the desired objective. It can be used to direct the search for relevant information to support the formulation of a topic-specific position statement.
WHO Guideline Purpose and Objectives for Cervical Pre-Cancer Screening and Treatment
The major goal of the WHO guideline is to minimize the incidence and death rates of cervical cancer by providing evidence-based guidelines for cervical pre-cancer screening and treatment. The goal of the recommendation is to enhance cervical cancer screening and treatment access for individuals in need. The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a comprehensive guideline for the screening and treatment of cervical pre-cancer lesions, with the goal of lowering the incidence and death from cervical cancer. The WHO guideline includes 23 recommendations, 6 general and 12 particulars, as well as 7 good practice statements, 3 general and 2 specifics (World Health Organization, 2021). The recommendations are an important resource for healthcare professionals, particularly APNs, in encouraging early detection and appropriate management of cervical pre-cancer, which will contribute to a decrease in cervical cancer occurrences and fatalities. The guideline is updated in four stages: suggestions are updated, evidence is evaluated, implementation methods are developed, and a “living guideline” is established for ongoing updates.
Evidence-Based Approach
The WHO recommendation was developed by a group of global health professionals and organizations. The authors received no money and have no personal stake in the result of the guideline. The recommendation was written by a group of professionals and organizations with a focus on global health adds to its legitimacy. Multiple teams with varying expertise in cervical screening and treatment were part of the systematic review approach used to generate the recommendation. During sessions of the Guideline Development Group (GDG) and the External Review Group (ERG), the evidence was presented and reviewed. The GDG was formed in 2019 with the goal of evaluating the previous version of the guideline, prioritizing critical questions for systematic reviews, providing comments on evidence reviews, and making suggestions for the final guideline (WHO, 2021). The WHO Steering Group mediated the GDG, which was co-chaired by two members. The ERG, comprised of 18 experts in research, policy, clinical care, and program implementation, examined the draft guideline and gave input once the GDG agreed on the suggestions. A guideline methodologist oversaw the guideline development process, which followed the WHO handbook for guideline production.
Impact of Recommendations on APN’s Practice and Quality Improvement
By addressing the bioethical concepts of justice and autonomy, the guideline has a major influence on quality improvement. The guideline promotes justice by ensuring that women receive adequate and effective care by giving evidence-based guidelines for cervical cancer screening and treatment (WHORO, 2020). Furthermore, the guideline’s emphasis on education and counseling allows women to make educated health decisions, fostering autonomy. The final published guideline paper will be sent to healthcare professionals and program administrators via WHO’s a worldwide network. This guarantees that the most up-to-date data is available and integrated into clinical decision-making, hence reducing cervical cancer. The quality of evidence utilized to support the guidelines’ recommendations will be critical in the APN’s choice to implement or not follow the guidelines in their practice. When making this choice, the APN must examine the strength of the data as well as their own clinical judgment.
Conclusion
To Summarize, Cervical cancer is a major public health problem, with over 13,000 new cases identified each year and over 4,000 fatalities in the United States. As an advanced practice nurse, you may help individuals recognize the symptoms of cervical cancer and enhance access to screening by offering information and counseling. The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued guidelines for the detection and treatment of cervical pre-cancer lesions in order to prevent cervical cancer. The quality of supporting evidence influences APNs’ execution of recommendations. WHO guidelines increase quality by fostering fairness and autonomy via evidence-based recommendations, therefore empowering women’s health decisions. The WHO recommendations are a helpful resource for APNs who want to avoid cervical cancer.
References
Alam, Z., Shafiee Hanjani, L., Dean, J., & Janda, M. (2021). Cervical Cancer Screening Among Immigrant Women Residing in Australia: A Systematic Review. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 101053952110066. Web.
Campbell, C., Nowell, A., Karagheusian, K., Giroux, J., Kiteley, C., Martelli, L., McQuestion, M., Quinn, M., Rowe Samadhin, Y. P., Touw, M., & Moody, L. (2020). Practical innovation: Advanced practice nurses in cancer care. Canadian Oncology Nursing Journal, 30(1), 9–15. Web.
Das, M. (2022). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention invest in cancer prevention programs. The Lancet Oncology, 23(7), e320. Web.
Nishikawa-Pacher, A. (2022). Research Questions with PICO: A Universal Mnemonic. Publications, 10(3), 21. Web.
WHO. (2021). WHO guidelines for screening and treatment of cervical pre-cancer lesions for cervical cancer prevention, second edition Web Annex A: Syntheses of evidence. Web.
WHORO. (2020). Screening programs: a short guide. Increase effectiveness, maximize benefits, and minimize harm. In apps.who.int. World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. Web.
World Health Organization. (2021). WHO Guideline for Screening and Treatment of Cervical Pre-cancer Lesions for Cervical Cancer Prevention. Web.