Managing the psychosocial consequences of cancer recurrence: implications for nurses

Patients experiencing a recurrence of malignancy offer many unique challenges to nurses. One of these challenges is to assist patients in coping with the psychosocial impact of a recurrence of malignancy. A recurrence of malignancy is a distinctly different event from an initial diagnosis of cancer. As primary caregivers, nurses first must accurately assess not only the patient's perception of the recurrence but also its impact on the patient's family, social activities, and roles. Nurses must consider carefully their own feelings concerning recurrence of cancer and how these feelings influence the care they render to this group of patients. Appropriate nursing intervention includes not only the patient but also the family and significant others. Issues related to future nursing research with this population are discussed.