The Human Face of Nursing:
Promoting Health and Happiness to Cancer Patients
Mr Since Kong Ka-hung
|Manager (Nursing), Nursing Service Department,
Hospital Authority Head Office
The scientific and technological developments of recent years have brought important improvements to the management of disease and prolonged human life. These improvements are especially evident in cancer patients. Cancer is, of course, one of the most dreaded diseases. The Hospital Authority (HA) has adopted modern, science-based, specialised nursing to help cancer patients in Hong Kong benefit from improved care and management protocols.
The HA’s nurses facilitate the administration of treatments, such as anti-cancer medication, radiation therapy and surgery, and help patients to manage the side effects of therapies and symptoms of the disease. Palliative elements are brought in from the time of diagnosis to help cancer patients deal with the physical, psychological, social and spiritual aspects of cancer, thus providing a comprehensive treatment experience during their therapy journey.
A key initiative in the HA has been the implementation of nurse-led cancer clinics, which provide all-round care. Advanced practice nurses share part of the workload with doctors to enable timely and comprehensive assessments and interventions. Most importantly, the enhanced coordination of care has proven to improve patients’ clinical outcomes. The therapeutic relationship fostered at consultation and throughout the whole treatment journey has also resulted in increased satisfaction among HA cancer patients and better physical and emotional well-being.
Advanced technologies are used to complement the human touch at the HA clinics, where cancer care is provided alongside measures to help patients deal with the atypical levels of stress, worry, fear and powerlessness that often accompany cancer diagnosis and treatment. Enhancing quality of life is increasingly being recognised as important to health, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) incorporating happiness into its concept of health. Nurses in the HA thus place increasing emphasis on promoting cancer patients’ happiness.
Patient empowerment is an important and effective coping mechanism for cancer patient well-being. When patients and their relatives feel more empowered to actively and confidently participate in the management of the disease, they can achieve higher self-awareness, higher self-belief, better coping with the disease, and lower risk of delayed treatment. HA nurses offer numerous programmes to cancer patients to educate, encourage and motivate them and this has had positive results in their management of such issues as neutropenic fever, extravasation and cancer-related fatigue.
General wellness activities such as music therapy are also organised in association with allied disciplines. Some HA oncology centres have also introduced a bell ringing ceremony to celebrate the end of cancer treatment, which has enhanced the transition to post-treatment life for cancer patients and their caregivers. This also motivates and gives hope to other cancer patients that one day, they might be able to ring the bell, too.
The advancement of technology can help to treat the disease and extend the lives of cancer patients, while nurses play a key role in accompanying patients on their treatment journey, providing them with support and encouragement, and helping to relieve their suffering and achieve a better quality of life.