Related Experiment Videos
Prelude to specialization: US cancer nursing, 1920-50
1School of Nursing, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois 60115, USA. blusk@niu.edu
Abstract:
This study used historical research methodology to assess the work of US nurses caring for patients with cancer from 1920 to 1950. Primary sources, obtained from several US archives, included nursing procedure books, student nurses' lecture notes, hospital and nursing annual reports, and meeting minutes. Secondary sources included journal articles and textbooks. The aim was to document the clinical work of nurses caring for patients with cancer and assess this work for evidence of emerging specialization in cancer nursing. Following a review of cancer in the 1920s, nursing education specific to cancer, nursing care related to specific cancer therapies, and the practice of concealing a diagnosis of cancer, were examined. Nurses were consistently educated in cancer nursing, but their cancer education became more focused over the decades. Nurses were closely involved with cancer patients as they monitored their patients' radium or assisted patients following radical surgery. The issue of concealing the diagnosis of cancer was problematic to some nurses. This paper reveals the nature of nurses' hospital work with cancer patients and demonstrates a core body of cancer nursing knowledge. The emergence of cancer nursing as a specialty is presented.
Related Concept Videos
Cancer Survival Analysis
National Nursing Organizations II
The AACN emphasizes a healthy work environment through six standards to achieve an optimal patient outcome. The standards are appropriate staffing, meaningful recognition, collaboration, authentic leadership, effective communication, and decision-making. In addition, AACN provides certification programs, webinars, journals, and...
The Professional Nurse
Communication skills: These are critical characteristics, especially speaking and listening.
Tumor Progression
Colon cancer is one of the best-documented examples of tumor progression. Early mutation in the APC gene in colon cells causes a small growth on the colon wall called a polyp. With time, this polyp grows into a benign, pre-cancerous tumor. Further...
Combination Therapies and Personalized Medicine
The combination of the drug acetazolamide and sulforaphane is a good example of combination therapy to treat cancer. The cells in the interior of a large tumor often die due to the hypoxic and...
Current Trends in Nursing I