Impact of nursing instructions on selected outcomes among patients with head and neck cancer

Abstract

Treatment of head and neck cancer with radiotherapy becoming increasingly effective but may result in several undesired complications as oral mucositis, xerostomia, dysphagia, trismus, mucosal infections, and pain. These complications can lead to marked weight loss and nutrient deficiencies because of decreased oral intake rate. So, it is important to provide patients with nursing instructions through patient education and dietary modifications to prevent or decrease theses complications. Was to evaluate the impact of nursing instructions on selected patients’ outcomes (oral mucositis, oral pain, weight loss and the results of laboratory studies (hemoglobin and albumin) among patients with head and neck cancer receiving radiotherapy. Non-equivalent control group time series qausi-experimental design was used. The study was carried out at the oncology unit in kaser El -Aini Hospital. Cairo University. A convenient sample of 80 patients with head and neck cancer was recruited for this study from the selected oncology unit. Four tools were used to collect data: Demographic and Medical Background Information Form, National Cancer Institute Scoring for Mucositis (NCI-CTC V4), The Pain Numeric Rating Scale (NRS-11) and weight scale. Results supported the stated research hypotheses.