Approach for Cancer Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Approach for Cancer Care - Essay Example Staging of Cancer Cancer staging refers to the extent or severity of cancer-based on the original tumor. Staging indicates the extent in which cancer has spread. There are four stages of cancer. Stage one to four. Factors such as the size of tumor, the extent of penetration, invasion into adjacent tissues and distant organs and the extent of metastasis, usually determine the stage of cancer. As tumors develop in a tissue or organ, they spread to other tissues and organs. They can also enter the blood stream or the lymphatic system and spread to other organs. Tumors spread from a primary site to a secondary site through a process called metastasis. Cancer staging is very important since it helps the doctors to predict death or survival and to provide treatment. The health care providers also use cancer staging to establish prognosis. Treatment can help restage cancer but rarely can it change the stage detected at diagnosis (Aronson, 2010). Staging also helps in identifying clinical trials that can suit particular patients. There are several systems used to cluster stages of cancer. They include the Tumor Node System, Ann Arbor system, scale I-IV, the FIGO system, Jewett Whitmore system and the Dukes staging system. These systems consider various elements used to cluster the stage. These include the primary site of the tumor, size, and the number of tumors, the tumor cell type, the involvement of tumor and metastasis (Wen, Schiff, & Quant, 2012). The most used cancer staging system is the Tumor Node Metastasis (TNM) system. The TNM system usually clusters cancer in two stages, which include a clinical stage and a pathological stage. The clinical stage is the stage before surgery where cancer is described through physical examination and other forms o f diagnosis except biopsy. The pathological stage is the

Understaffed Nursing Problems in Hospitals Research Proposal

Understaffed Nursing Problems in Hospitals - Research Proposal Example It is noticeable that the nursing shortage has become a global issue that has put patients care at higher risk and residents are complaining of poor care. It has been found that some nursing homes are highly understaffed that have endangered the lives of patients (Ellis & Hartley, 2004). Thousands of nurses are needed in nursing homes to address the health issues of patients who need assistance to recover from chronic diseases. But, they are losing hope and facing more health complexities due to the shortage of nursing staff. Some evidence-based major complexities that emerge from lack of nurses' assistance include hypertension, catheterized patients, urinary infections, poor feeding resulting in malnutrition, dehydration and most prominently decrease in the participation rate of patients in healthy activities (Siela, 2009). Nursing staff is responsible for taking care of patients during medicines intake or meal time and their absence lead patients to more complex health conditions. †¢ Problem and Problem Statement: Present literature over closely related issues shows that no study has contributed to highlight the factors, which are responsible for causing understaffed nursing problems in hospitals. †¢ The significance of the Problem: Lack of identification of responsible factors is a crucial issue and its solution can lead to resolving problems of the understaffed nursing sector. This problem has significant importance as it will help practitioners and researchers recognize the areas, which need proper attention and modification to provide standard healthcare services to the patients. Additionally, a research-based study covering an important issue related to understaffed nursing department might also contribute to open the gate and beneficial opportunities for those individuals, who seek to build up the career in the field of nursing.  A study conducted by Buerhaus, Donelan & Ulrich in 2005 aimed to find out the rate and impact of registered nurse s in the hospitals.