Nursing Day: this is how those who care for cancer patients are
World Nursing Day is celebrated every May 12, a figure that is vital in the field of health care for its important work in care, coordination with the medical team, patient education, or prevention of diseases, among many other aspects. And how is your work when the patient is cancer?
In this case, as detailed from the Valencian Institute of Oncology Foundation (IVO), the role played by the nursing staff “is essential” for the care and treatment of the patient. In other words, oncology nursing, “which requires a high level of professional specialization and a great capacity for sensitivity and dedication towards the patient and their families”, as defined by the IVO, occupies a fundamental place in the multidisciplinary team of experts in each of the specialties of the Valencian cancer center. Its involvement in all phases of the oncological approach -the specific nursing consultation, the day hospital, the hospitalization area, etc.-, is also a guarantee of comprehensive and personalized care for each patient and moment of the disease.
Due to their proximity, the nursing staff is often a fundamental pillar on which those who fight against this disease rely.. As Adela Lliso, head of the IVO Nursing Unit, recounts, these professionals “forge a special relationship of empathy, listening and respect with the patient, always trying to improve their physical and mental well-being.”
Along the same lines, Ricardo Roca, supervisor of the IVO Medical Oncology service, narrates how in hospitalized patients, nursing is in charge of administering treatments, performing cures, taking constants or assessing the patient, “but it is also the one who is at the bottom of the out of bed at all times and who spends the most time with the patient and their relatives».
The increase in the incidence and prevalence of cancer, together with the rise of personalized treatments, has favored the development of day hospitals. It is in these services, aimed at providing care to patients for a few hours, without the need for hospital admission, where 90% of patients who require cancer treatment regularly go, according to figures from the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM).. Teresa Navarro, supervisor of this unit at the IVO, agrees in highlighting the “emotional” part of the work she develops in this area: “When a patient comes in, they are invaded by a multitude of doubts and questions and that is where our work begins, trying to make that time, those hours are as pleasant as possible.
And he explains how important it is to be able to facilitate the coordination of these appointments with the activities of their daily routine: «Our job goes beyond seeing how long each treatment lasts and scheduling it, it is also knowing how to coordinate the appointment of a dropper with the departure of your child from kindergarten. Something that is “very rewarding.”
In her role as operating room supervisor, Ana Arbona explains the need for nursing professionals “to be able to listen, be empathetic, attentive and affectionate” with the patient. «In those difficult moments, something as simple as introducing ourselves with our name reassures and comforts». And he says that his job is also that they perceive “that they are going to take care of them all the time they are there.”
High specialization and empathy
High specialization is another of the points on which Ascensión Landete, a nurse from the Home Hospitalization Unit, and Amparo Quilis, supervisor of the Radiation Oncology service, both from the IVO, agree.. «The patient in the Home Hospitalization Unit requires all kinds of care, and many of them at the end of life. For this reason, this home unit requires professionals capable of addressing both the physiological and psychological aspects of patients, acting in a competent, professional, empathetic, safe and above all very humane manner.
Quilis, for his part, details how nursing in Radiation Oncology requires extensive knowledge about the cancer patient, as well as the radiotherapy processes.. Among its functions is the design of an individualized care plan, aimed at making the radiotherapy treatment “as effective and comfortable” as possible for the patient.. And that also implies “the emotional care of the patient.”
In this last aspect, he values the importance of communication based on trust between patients and professionals: «our patients need to relate to and trust the team that is treating their disease and for this it is necessary that there is good communication. And in this process, the role of nursing is vital to foster this relationship of trust through human treatment, empathy, gradual and understandable information, always agreed upon with the rest of the team, also allowing the patient to express their fears and needs. ».