The mastectomized woman: rehabilitation nurses promoting self-care

Abstract

Breast cancer and the associated treatments affect the physic, psychological and social woman health condition, with the commitment of self-care. In the context of their professional exercise, belongs to nursing professionals, and particularly to the rehabilitation nursing area, the promotion of self-care, in order to promote the well-being and quality of life.
Work objectives: to know the rehabilitation nursing interventions implemented to mastectomized woman; to identify the main difficulty found by nurses in its implementation; to analyse the suggestions made by the rehabilitation nurses concerning the implemented interventions and to reflect about the rehabilitation nursing role as a means to promote the woman independence after breast surgery for oncologic disease.
We performed a qualitative, exploratory and descriptive study with nine specialist nurses in rehabilitation nursing who provide care to women with mastectomies in hospitalization context in a specialized institution in oncology in Oporto. Data were collected through a semi-structured interviews, submitted to content analysis as described by Bardin and from which emerged four categories: needs identification; hindering factors in the self-care process; interventions promoting self-care and interventions
evaluation.
Nurses implement interventions to enhance the adaptive capacity, prevent surgical complications, maximize functionality, enabling the patient to be able to maintain, restore or promote the functional capabilities and prevent complications. It is inferred that with this process professionals empower women in the cognitive, physical, emotional or psychosocial and behavioral domain contributing to their autonomy, independence and quality of life.