Free Term Paper About Scholarly Reflective Analysis

Introduction

Cancer is one of the most dreaded diseases in the world due to the impact t has o the health of an individual and those around him or her. It is, therefore, a topic that sparks a lot of concern from different parties who are aware of the impacts the disease has on the affected persons. As a result of this concern, I have an interest on the topic and the article helps put into perspective some of the key aspects of this disease and the impact it has on the life of the affected persons (Pinto, Berenguer & Martins, 2013). The article focuses on some of the ways that health literacy can help improve the quality of life and increase in personal satisfaction. Personally, I have always wanted to understand how cancer may impact the quality of life in affected individuals and their perception of the future, and this article helps put all that into perspective through its extensive research.

Comprehension

Cancer has different impacts on different people in regards to the quality of life and their perception of the future. The article had participants who were in palliative care and aim at identifying their view of life especially the future. The article identifies that health literacy is very important in developing an optimistic view of the future (Hilliard, 2013). The findings of the article show that having information about the disease plays key roles in reducing fear and developing a positive attitude towards the future. In general, the article shows the importance of having or developing a holistic view when providing care to cancer patients. It helps them develop an understanding of what the disease is all about wand hat they can do to remain healthy and happy. This should be the primary concern for nurses who need to humanize care provided to these patients by helping them fight fear as well as the disease (Penson, 2010).

Application

The article applies various concepts grounding caring science in the palliative care of cancer patients. One of this is Simone Roach’s compassion. The article asserts that nurses have to ensure that they are empathetic and sensitive to the suffering of patients under their care. It is common to find that nurses may mechanize treatment of cancer due to the increasing technology. However, the article shows that nurses have to be alert in having information and knowledge that will help patients cope with the disease positively (Eyigor, n.d.). The other concept is competence in the role of nurses to handle issues that arise in the care of the cancer patients. Roach sates that it is important for nurses to use evidence-based practices as well and humanistic knowledge to provide car. This is the same in the article as it encourages nurses to apply the scientific evidence on treatment of cancer as well as other approaches that can help patients cope (Pinto, Berenguer & Martins, 2013). Courage is also an important aspect on the palliative care of cancer patients. The nurse has to have courage in order to show the patient the right path to follow. However, it is upon the patient to have a positive and courageous view of life in order to tackle the strain that comes with cancer treatment.

Synthesis

Practice
The study in the article has a number of limitations. The findings of the study were limited in the fact that it only used patients who were in the day hospital during their chemotherapy sessions. Therefore, it may have had an impact on their overall view of life (Jess, 2008). The study should have focused on both the day hospital and those receiving chemotherapy for the first time. This would have shed light on the overall perception of patients in palliative care receiving chemotherapy. Future research should focus on including all recipients of chemotherapy in order to have conclusive findings (Bleakley & Stinson, 2009).

Research

In terms of research, the study was limited in the fact that the participants or the sample was not randomized; hence, it limits the ability to infer the results to the general population. The study was also done in Portugal and the Portuguese are generally regarded as optimistic individuals. Therefore, the highly optimistic results found by the study may have been due to the nature of the sample population. There is, therefore, a need to do further research in a randomized sample size study with people from different ethnic groups as the participants (Altundag, 2004).

Education

The research focused on the role of health literacy and happiness and did not provide a relation on the association of these factors in the analysis of the index of happiness in different individuals. Therefore, future research should focus on the aspect of happiness based on the kind of information provided (Pinto, Berenguer & Martins, 2013).

Evaluation

Quality of life for cancer patients is highly dependent on the information one has in regards to the disease and the treatment process. From the study, I have realized that the happiness and future perception of a cancer patient is dependent on several factors. As a result, there is need for health care professionals including nurses to ensure they have a positive impact on the patient. This is due to the role a nurse plays in the life of a chemotherapy patient. He or she needs to be in control of the situation in order to give the patient confidence and courage to face situation. A lot of research is still required in this field, but as for now the studies have demonstrated the relevance of information and health education on the lives of cancer patients receiving palliative care.

References

A pilot study of Auron Misheil Therapy in patients with advanced cervical cancer: Tumor
response and its correlation with clinical benefit response, and preliminary quality of life
data. (2009). Oncology Reports.
Altundag, M. (2004). The Field of Radiation Therapy May Effect Health-Related Quality of Life
in Patients With Operable Breast Cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 1765-1765.
Bleakley, K., & Stinson, M. (2009). Complementary And Alternative Therapies: Do They
Improve Quality Of Life For Women With Breast Cancer? Physical Therapy Reviews,
96-105.
Eyigor, S. (n.d.). Cancer and quality of life. Journal of Cancer Science & Therapy.
Heffernan, N. (2002). Measuring Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients With Hepatobiliary
Cancers: The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Hepatobiliary Questionnaire.
Hilliard, R. (2013). The Effects of Music Therapy on the Quality and Length of Life of People
Diagnosed with Terminal Cancer. Journal of Music Therapy, 113-137.
Jess, P. (2008). Quality of Life Assessments in Colorectal Cancer Surgery. A Review. Current
Cancer Therapy Reviews, 267-270.
Litwin, M. (2012). Quality of life following definitive therapy for localized prostate cancer:
Potential impact of multiple therapies. Current Opinion in Urology, 153-156.
Pinto, S.M O., Berenguer, S. M. A. C & Martins, J. C.A (2013). Cancer, Health Literacy, and
Happiness: Perspectives from patients under Chemotherapy. Nursing research and
practice vol, 2013, pp1-8.
Penson, D. (2010). Quality of Life After Therapy for Localized Prostate Cancer. The Cancer
Potosky, A. (2002). Quality of Life Following Localized Prostate Cancer Treated Initially with
Androgen Deprivation Therapy or No Therapy. CancerSpectrum Knowledge
Environment, 1(56), 430-437.
Roodman, G. (n.d.). PL1.3. Developments in bone target treatment of cancer. Cancer Treatment
Reviews, 1-1.
Vaishampayan, U., & Hussain, M. (2014). Update in systemic therapy of prostate cancer:
Improvement in quality and duration of life. Expert Review of Anticancer Therapy, 78(4),
269-281.