Healthcare Traveler - July 2008 - (Page 43)

Clinical Tips Education for a cancer patient completing treatment? Patients who have been in any kind of treatment tend to be more aware of their bodies; the way they feel, look, and respond. Patients in radiation therapy are no different. Even after therapy is complete, patients are much more in tune with their entire being. Most of all, patients should be reassured that this is a normal part of the healing process and is actually a good thing. The heightened awareness brings more rapid recognition of potential problems, and thus faster interventions, if needed. Following completion of radiation therapy, patients should continue their vigilance and the special care they used during their treatment. For example, skin irritation may continue for several weeks afterward. Moisturizing creams should be continued to promote skin CLINICAL PEARLS FROM THE EXPERTS integrity. Maintaining rest and a proper diet can help healthy tissues rebuild, regenerate, and recover. It’s very natural for posttreatment patients to want to get their lives back in order and move on, but it is critical that the patients and their physicians discuss appropriate levels of activity, such as going back to work. The patients are healing; while it may be difficult to take it slow, it may be healthier to get some much-needed rest and ease back into a routine at a slower pace. Rebecca Ann Ruppert, RN, MS Handling a patient with “pseudoseizures” Pseudoseizures (also called nonepileptic events) look like grand mal epileptic seizures and can be very convincing, even to a neurologist. Patients may present with dilated pupils, tonic-clonic movements, and tooth grinding. These events have purely psychological causes, however, without the electroencephalographic evidence of epilepsy. While pseudoseizures can be “fake,” as in the cases of patients seeking attention or disability, they are more often a form of conversion disorder, in which severe psychological stressors are converted subconsciously into physical symptoms. Treatment for pseudoseizures is a mental health referral to determine the patient’s stressors that are causing the events. Generally, patients are relieved to know that the events are nonepileptic. Marie Lasater, RN, MSN, CCRN, CNRN This department originally appeared in RN, a sister publication. For subscription information, call 800-284-8945 or visit www.rnweb.com. Circle Career Card No. 652 www.healthcaretraveler.com July 2008 Healthcare Traveler 43 http://www.rnweb.com http://www.fmcnatraveljobs.com/HCT http://www.fmcnatraveljobs.com/HCT http://www.healthcaretraveler.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Traveler - July 2008

Healthcare Traveler - July 2008 Editor's Desk Contents By the Numbers Paws for Thought In a Flash Field Notes California Love Affair Taking Your Home on the Road Drug Update Clinical Tips Cityscape Advertisers' Index Name It When In... Good for You Big Deals Tax Facts Going the Distance Contest Rules Starter's Kit Allied Corner Classifieds Tales from the Road

Healthcare Traveler - July 2008

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