Ann J. Brady, MSN, RN-BC, CHPN

Loss of appetite and not eating are difficult aspects of cancer for patients’ loved ones to understand. Continued and diligent nurse education can help both patients and families cope with this disturbing effect.

Providing your patient with the opportunity to tell his or her story helps to ensure that the goals of treatment are defined and met.

Patients’ constant proximity to nurses gives them opportunities and the ease of familiarity to ask difficult questions. When answering, nurses should remember that part of the answer is the patient’s choice of who to ask.

Despite the experience of the oncology care team, it is important to remember to ask before acting when it comes to patient care.

Patients at a crossroads in their care may struggle with the decision to change the course of their care. Nurses need to find the balance between offering support and letting the patient go forward.

If it sounds like denial, it is denial. Right? This patient’s preconceived notion of what lung cancer should be appeared to hinder her accepting her diagnosis. But she agreed to treatment, so is it still denial?

Transitions from one stage of cancer care to another are pivotal points of vulnerability for patients. The most significant point comes at the end of treatment, as patients face life forever changed.

The author learned to fully appreciate the significance of inflection and tone, hallmarks of spoken communication, when she faced a new challenge: counseling a deaf patient and his wife, who also is deaf.

A question posed at a recent conference prompts a self-examination of how unintentionally—and easily—bias can impact the care nurses provide.

Sometimes communication barriers cannot be broken until the patient, the family, and the nurse find a common ground together.