Symptomatic control in the oncologic patient: good care practices

Abstract

In a department of Oncology target nursing interventions are patients undergoing chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, biological therapy, target therapies, palliative and supportive care, and where it becomes imperative to control symptoms. Creating a good practice guide care in the context of symptomatic control in the cancer patient led us to reflect not only on nursing diagnoses, but also on the concepts of treatment adherence, self-care, self-monitoring, assessing, monitoring, pharmacological and no pharmacological interventions, which will be addressed here in the language CIPE. It is therefore essential that nursing interventions are directed to the systematic evaluation of signs and symptoms and interventions, both pharmacological and non-pharmacological and their control. Adequate control of pain and other symptoms is a central factor in the quality of life of patients with advanced disease. The goals are to provide general guidance on the evaluation and treatment in the context of symptomatic control, based on clinical experience and scientific evidence, supported by references and standardizing nursing intervention at the level of symptom control in the cancer patient. The guides development of good practice guiding nursing care, are considered quality instruments. It is these instruments that nurses must base their intervention, making the care they provide safer, visible and effective. These instruments, when rigorously developed and used, can be a basis for the systematization of nursing interventions, adjusting the efficiency and safety of the action, the effectiveness of the results.