Psychosocial
This mood state is characterized by sadness, hopelessness, discouragement, and feelings of worthlessness and may range from mild distress to major psychiatric illness.
What is depression?
Cancer and certain treatments increase hypercoagulability, leading to this serious cardiovascular complication characterized by unilateral leg swelling, chest pain, or sudden shortness of breath.
What is venous thromboembolism (deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism)?
This medical term refers to the subjective sensation of shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, a common complaint among oncology patients.
This term describes a mood state marked by apprehension, somatic tension, and anticipation of danger—real or imagined—and is commonly seen in cancer patients.
This classic skin appearance—often described as resembling the surface of an orange—may be seen in lymphedema due to thickening and fibrosis.
When assessing a patient with suspected fluid in their lungs, a new oncology nurse would likely hear this adventitious breath sound, often described as crackles or popping, especially at the lung bases.
What are rales (or crackles)?
the most common, distressing, and pervasive symptom experienced by cancer patients, unrelieved by rest.
Patients who have received radiation to the chest—especially for lymphoma or breast cancer—are at increased risk for these long‑term complications, including pericarditis, coronary artery disease, and valvular abnormalities.
What are late radiation‑induced cardiovascular effects?
This type of lung inflammation, often occurring weeks to months after radiation therapy to the chest, can present with a dry cough, dyspnea, and low-grade fever.
What is radiation pneumonitis?
Calm communication, validating fears, active listening, and helping the patient identify past coping skills are all part of this interpersonal nursing approach to reduce anxiety.
What is empathic or active listening (therapeutic communication)?
Patients with left ventricular dysfunction should be educated on these topics to help manage their symptoms and prompt early interventions. (Remember the mnemonic.)
Heart SMART: symptoms to watch for/ report, medications, activity, regular weight monitoring, and “toss the salt shaker”
Also weight loss, smoking cessation, decreased alcohol intake, stress reduction.
This condition involves an abnormal collection of fluid in the space between the lung and the chest wall, often causing shortness of breath, and may require a thoracentesis for drainage.
What is a pleural effusion?
Nonpharmacologic anxiety management may include distraction, music, prayer, Reiki, and massage. These modalities fall under this broad category that supports relaxation and reduces distress.
Although echocardiography is widely used to estimate cardiac function, this imaging modality is considered the gold standard for measuring left‑ventricular ejection fraction because of its superior accuracy and precision.
What is cardiac MRI (CMR)?
(Cardiac MRI is the gold standard for LVEF measurement due to accuracy and reproducibility.)
This chemotherapy agent is notoriously associated with pulmonary toxicity, potentially leading to pulmonary fibrosis, which manifests as progressive dyspnea, dry cough, and hypoxemia, sometimes years after treatment.