Hanaa Sabra

Nursing Care Standards for Cancer Patients: Supportive Care and Clinical Nursing Practice Hanaa Sabra

Quality of care that is expected from a health care facility is made explicit by written standards that direct the way the service is to be provided and the results should be achieved from that service. Nursing care Standards must be available to all nursing personnel to serve as guide for professional work. Standard is a descriptive professional statement of desired or agreed level of performance/care against which the level of performance/care can be judged. It must be observable, achievable and measurable. The patient's ability to cope with chemotherapy will be influenced by knowledge of the treatment and realistic expectations of side effects. Therefore Nurses play a vital role regarding cancer patients, in order to help them to cope and adapt to their illness. This role includes, monitoring acute reaction and follow up care of these patients, providing education, counseling and support as the patients facing change in their life. In an attempt to help nurses to develop their knowledge, improving their practice with new technology and to provide good quality nursing care for cancer patients this requires development and applying nursing care standards in oncology units.