Nursing Process
Nurses should monitor the immune status of cancer patients, observe signs and symptoms for potential or actual infections, and monitor these specific laboratory tests because of immunosuppression neutropenia.
What are the WBC and neutrophil counts?
Normal tissues that rapidly divide in the adult are most susceptible to adverse effects.
What are hair follicles, blood cells, and lining of the digestive tract?
The therapeutic classification of drugs to fight cancer.
What is antineoplastics?
The mouth may become irritated or ulcerated during antineoplastic treatments. Patients should avoid this oral cleaning agent
What are alcohol-based mouthwashes?
A disease characterized by abnormal, uncontrolled cell division.
What is cancer?
Nurses should administer this drug classification 30-45 minutes prior to antineoplastic administration to help prevent profound nausea, dry heaves, and vomiting.
What are antiemetics?
This center found in the medulla of the brain is triggered by many antineoplastics, causing severe nausea and vomiting.
What is the vomiting center?
The classification of drugs that act by chemically binding to DNA and inhibiting cell division.
What are alkylating drugs?
Patients should follow this diet is the WBC count is significantly reduced, avoiding raw fruits and vegetables, peppercorns, and raw fish and meat
What is the neutropenic diet?
Abnormal cells travel to distant sites, where they create new tumors.
What is metastasis?
Monitor cardiac and respiratory status (vital signs, heart and lung sounds, edema, ECG, and lab results) when using these antineoplastic agents.
What are alkylating drugs, antimetabolites, and antitumor antibodies?
This drug classification has a black box warning for being hepatotoxic
What are Antimetabolites?
Drugs that chemically resemble essential building blocks of the cell and disrupt metabolic pathways
What are antimetabolites?
Patients should eat foods in small amounts at frequent intervals in appetite is decreased. The patient can also request this drug to stimulate the appetite.
What is megestrol (Megace)?
Cancers of the central nervous system (CNS)
What are gliomas?
Encourage frequent oral hygiene because of this common adverse effect of antineoplastic therapy.
What is mucositis?
The major dose-limiting adverse effect of Vincristine.
What is neurotoxicity?
Drugs obtained from bacteria that have the ability to kill cancer cells.
What are antitumor antibiotics?
Patients should report easy bruising, blood in stool or urine, vomiting, severe fatigue, epigastric pain, and difficulty clotting because of this common chemotherapeutic drug effect.
What is the reduced production of platelets?
Damage caused to hair follicles resulting in hair loss
What is alopecia?
Administer this drug with caution to patients with diabetes mellitus, which may cause hypoglycemia when combined with insulin
What is cyclophosamide?
The use of this drug is associated with an increased risk of endometrial cancer.
What is Tamoxifen?
The least toxic of the antineoplastic classes, normally given for palliation
What are hormones and hormone antagonists?
Patients should avoid crowds and individuals with infections, and report temperatures of 101 F or higher because of this chemotherapy effect.
What is suppression of the immune system?
This cancer has the highest mortality rate in both men and women.
What is lung cancer?