Introduction
Cancer is one of the most severe and dangerous diseases in the contemporary world, and oncologic patients suffer not only from numerous adverse consequences of this condition but also from various side effects of the treatments for this disease. In particular, chemotherapy, among other side effects, induces nausea, and vomiting, which further lower the quality of life of these patients (Farrell, Brearley, Pilling, & Molassiotis, 2013). The current project is aimed at implementing cost-free nursing interventions which could help reduce nausea and vomiting resulting from chemotherapy.
The Problem
Therefore, this project will be concerned with the issue of nausea and vomiting that are induced by chemotherapy. Such nausea and vomiting are a common problem in oncologic patients, and they have a considerable adverse impact on their quality of life, as well as on their psychological and nutritional status (Farrell et al., 2013; Hilarius et al., 2012). In this project, cost-free methods that could be employed to prevent or limit such nausea and vomiting will be proposed for implementation.
The Setting
The setting in which this project could be implemented includes hospitals that provide care for patients suffering from cancer and use chemotherapy as a method for treating this disease. Also, which this project will offer could be proposed for implementation on patients who receive chemotherapy for cancer but do not stay hospitalized.
Description of the Problem
The problem that will be addressed by this project is nausea and vomiting that are caused by chemotherapy for oncologic patients. Chemotherapy is a way of treating cancer which has numerous adverse side effects on patients; these include, apart from many other issues, nausea and vomiting (Farrell et al., 2013; Hilarius et al., 2012). It is also noted that such nausea and vomiting may occur due to psychological reasons when a patient is only anticipating chemotherapy treatments (Kamen et al., 2014).
Impact of the Problem
Nausea and vomiting which are induced by chemotherapy provided for patients with such cancer have a serious negative impact on the quality of life of these patients; they considerably exacerbate the suffering and problems which these patients already experience due to their disease (Kamen et al., 2014), and hurt their nutritional and psychological status (Farrell et al., 2013).
Significance of the Problem
Because oncologic patients already experience a variety of severe problems resulting from their disease, it is of great significance to make effort to reduce their suffering and decrease the negative consequences of chemotherapy, also improving patient outcomes.
A Proposed Solution
To deal with this problem using cost-free methods, it is possible to provide interventions which consist of a variety of methods of acupressure combined with nurse counseling; these are stated to have a statistically significant relieving effect on chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (Suh, 2012; Yeh et al., 2012). Also, a nursing intervention advising patients to consume ginger or use ginger supplementation, which is also stated to be an effectual method of reducing nausea and vomiting resulting from chemotherapy in oncologic patients, should be recommended as well (Jordan, Jahn, & Aapro, 2015; Marx et al., 2013; Ryan et al., 2012).
Conclusion
On the whole, it should be stressed that oncologic patients suffer from several severe health problems not only because of their disease but also due to the treatments they receive. The current project proposes to use nursing interventions consisting of acupressure combined with counseling, as well as to advise patients to consume ginger or use ginger supplements, as effective methods for decreasing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in patients receiving chemotherapy.
References
Farrell, C., Brearley, S. G., Pilling, M., & Molassiotis, A. (2013). The impact of chemotherapy-related nausea on patients’ nutritional status, psychological distress and quality of life. Supportive Care in Cancer, 21(1), 59-66.
Hilarius, D. L., Kloeg, P. H., van der Wall, E., van den Heuvel, J. J., Gundy, C. M., & Aaronson, N. K. (2012). Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in daily clinical practice: A community hospital-based study. Supportive Care in Cancer, 20(1), 107-117.
Jordan, K., Jahn, F., & Aapro, M. (2015). Recent developments in the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV): A comprehensive review. Annals of Oncology, 26(6), 1081-1090.
Kamen, C., Tejani, M. A., Chandwani, K., Janelsins, M., Peoples, A. R., Roscoe, J. A., & Morrow, G. R. (2014). Anticipatory nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy. European Journal of Pharmacology, 722, 172-179.
Marx, W. M., Teleni, L., McCarthy, A. L., Vitetta, L., McKavanagh, D., Thomson, D., & Isenring, E. (2013). Ginger (Zingiber officinale) and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting: A systematic literature review. Nutrition Reviews, 71(4), 245-254.
Ryan, J. L., Heckler, C. E., Roscoe, J. A., Dakhil, S. R., Kirshner, J., Flynn, P. J.,…Morrow, G. R. (2012). Ginger (Zingiber officinale) reduces acute chemotherapy-induced nausea: A URCC CCOP study of 576 patients. Supportive Care in Cancer, 20(7), 1479-1489.
Suh, E. E. (2012). The effects of P6 acupressure and nurse-provided counseling on chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in patients with breast cancer. Oncology Nursing Forum, 39(1), e1-e9.
Yeh, C. H., Chien, L. C., Chiang, Y. C., Lin, S. W., Huang, C. K., & Ren, D. (2012). Reduction in nausea and vomiting in children undergoing cancer chemotherapy by either appropriate or sham auricular acupuncture points with standard care. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 18(4), 334-340.