Cancer EAQ
Which question should the nurse include in the health history interview to determine if a patient is at risk for cancer due to a chemical carcinogen?
"Are you exposed to benzene through your occupation?"
The nursing instructor is evaluating a student nurse's teaching plan about preventive measures for head and neck cancer in patients. Which statement of the student nurse does the nursing instructor correct?
"Chewing tobacco is better than smoking.
Which question should the nurse include in the health history interview to determine if a patient is at risk for cancer due to an exposure to radiation, a carcinogen?
"Do you use sunscreen when exposed to sunlight for large periods of time?"
The family of a recently admitted female patient are shocked that their mother has received a diagnosis of lung cancer. They ask the nurse whether it is common for women to have lung cancer. What is the nurse's best response?
"Lung cancer has the second highest incidence for both men and women."
A patient is diagnosed with lung cancer, and the prognosis is very poor. The patient has smoked three packs of cigarettes per day for the last 12 years. The patient's spouse is also a chronic smoker but is healthy. The nurse recognizes that which patient statement indicates that the patient is using rationalization as a defense mechanism?
"My spouse is a smoker but didn't get cancer; therefore, I don't have cancer."
The nurse is discussing cultural factors that may affect an individual's health. Which of the following statements is true?
"Persons of lower income and education experience worse health and may die at a younger age than those who are more affluent."
The nurse is explaining cancer cell biology to a student nurse. Which statement may be specifically used with regard to contact inhibition?
"The cells grow on top of one another."
A patient with cancer has an elevated serum alpha-fetoprotein level. What does the nurse determine is the reason why this level may be elevated?
"The protein may be newly formed due to altered expression of protooncogenes."
The nurse is assisting a patient with stage IV lung cancer who is upset. Which statement by the nurse would help this patient cope with the diagnosis?
"This must be very difficult for you. Let me know if I can be of any help
A patient with cancer has dysgeusia and tells the student nurse, "I don't want to eat. Everything tastes bitter." Which advice given by the student nurse indicates the need for further teaching?
"You should increase spices and seasoning in your food."
The nurse is educating a teenage patient about risk factors for cancer of the reproductive system. Which patient statements demonstrate understanding of the education? Select all that apply.
-"I will avoid smoking." -"I will use condoms for sexual intercourse." -"I will limit sexual activity in my adolescent years."
Which statements should the nurse include when conducting a teaching session regarding gender differences related to cancer? Select all that apply.
-"The mortality rate of lung cancer is higher in men than in women." -"The cancer with the highest incidence among men is prostate cancer." -"Head and neck cancers occur more frequently in men than in women."
The community nurse is teaching preventive cancer measures to a group of people. Which statements indicate effective learning by the participants? Select all that apply.
-"We should avoid smoked and salt-cured meats." -"We should add whole grains and fiber foods in our diet." -"We should be familiar with our family history regarding health."
A nurse is teaching a group of teenagers about breast cancer prevention. What topics should the nurse include in the presentation? Select all that apply.
-Breast self-examinations -Identification of an at-risk population -Importance of clinical breast examination yearly after age 40
A patient arrives at the clinic to have a Papanicolaou (Pap) test done. What information should the nurse give to this patient? Select all that apply.
-Get this test done once in three years until the age of 65 years. -This test is not required for women who have undergone hysterectomy. -After 65 years, this test is not required if two or three consecutive negative Pap tests are received in two years.
A patient is illiterate and has cancer. What factors will the nurse anticipate to be associated with this patient? Select all that apply.
-Higher risk of death -Greater use of emergency department care -Decreased ability to use medications correctly
A nurse is educating a patient with breast cancer who is hesitant to undergo radiation therapy. Which statements best explain the advantages of radiation therapy to reassure the patient? Select all that apply.
-It helps to relieve pain caused by local or distant recurrence. -It helps to prevent local and nodal recurrences after mastectomy. -It helps to prevent local breast cancer recurrences after a breast-conserving surgery.
A nurse is preparing a teaching plan about pain management for a cancer patient. What information should be included in the teaching plan? Select all that apply.
-Nonpharmacologic pain relief therapies -Side effects and complications associated with medications -Adjustments in drug dosages that may be required over a period of time
A patient with lung cancer develops headaches, facial edema, periorbital edema, and distention of the veins in the head, neck, and chest. The nurse expects that what will be included in the patient's treatment plan? Select all that apply.
-Prepare the patient for radiation therapy. -Inform the patient that chemotherapy may be required.
When teaching a patient with testicular cancer about possible treatment options and their corresponding effects on sexual function, which should the nurse discuss with the patient? Select all that apply.
-Testicular cancer treatment involves high risk of infertility. -Consider cryopreservation of sperm in a sperm bank before treatment. -Retroperitoneal lymph node dissection can result in ejaculatory dysfunction.
The nurse is reviewing statistics regarding the incidence and death rates of cancer. What statement does the nurse recognize has basis in fact? Select all that apply.
-Thyroid cancer is more prevalent in women than in men. -More men than women die from cancer-related deaths each year. -African Americans have a higher death rate from cancer than whites.
A nurse is reviewing the record of a patient with breast cancer to determine the cancer stage according to the TNM system (tumor size, nodal involvement, presence of metastasis). Which parameters are taken into account in TNM staging of cancers? Select all that apply.
-Tumor size -Metastasis -Lymph node involvement
A nurse planning a community health program on cancer awareness includes the need for testicular self-examination. What target age group would have the highest priority for this educational program?
15 to 35 years
A nurse teaching a community group about ways to reduce the risk for colorectal cancer includes decreasing the dietary intake of:
Beef and pork
A patient is diagnosed with stage IV malignant cancer. What anatomic extent of the disease does the nurse determine is present?
Cells have undergone metastasis.
A nurse preparing educational information about lung cancer notes that what is the primary risk factor related to the development of lung cancer?
Cigarette smoking
Which data collected by the nurse indicates the patient has a complete carcinogen risk factor for the development of cancer?
Cigarette smoking
Older adults who belong to minority groups are less likely than their white counterparts to receive screening for which type of cancer?
Colorectal
Which are treatment goals of cancer? Select all that apply.
Cure Control Palliation
The nurse is preparing a diet plan for a patient with cancer who has malnutrition. Which type of food would be most beneficial to the patient?
Deviled egg with vegetable salad
A nurse is teaching a group of patients who are at high risk of developing cancer due to family history. Which agents should the nurse discuss as being known to be cancer-promoting? Select all that apply.
Dietary fats Cigarette smoking Alcohol consumption
The nurse is providing care to a patient with a family history of breast cancer. Which assessment question to determine the patient's genetic risk is most appropriate?
Do you know your breast cancer gene (BRAC) status?"
The nurse is caring for a patient who is receiving radiation therapy for neck cancer. The nurse knows that what is the most frequent side effect of this treatment?
Dry mouth
A patient with cancer who is receiving methotrexate therapy has developed anemia. The nurse recognizes that which therapies may benefit this patient? Select all that apply.
Epoetin alfa Oral folic acid
A patient has been diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma. What does the nurse inform the patient that they most likely have had exposure to?
Epstein-Barr virus
The nurse collects a health history from a patient with a suspected malignancy. What finding is considered significant?
History of human papillomavirus
A man is determined to be at risk for breast cancer during a routine health screening by the nurse. The patient does not give any history of radiation exposure or genetic inheritance. Which other factor would have led the nurse to label the patient as high risk?
History of taking hormone replacement therapy for changing sex
A patient recently has been diagnosed with stage II cervical cancer. What should the nurse determine regarding the patients diagnosis?
It has spread locally.
The nurse is conducting a teaching session within the community regarding cancer prevention and detection. Which type of cancer should the nurse include based on the highest incidence among both men and women?
Lung cancer
The nurse is reading a pathologic report on a patient who has esophageal cancer. Which letter informs the nurse that the cancer has spread to another part of the body?
M
The patient and family are upset that the patient is going through procedures to diagnose cancer. What nursing actions should the nurse use first to facilitate their coping with this situation? Select all that apply.
Maintain hope Exhibit a caring attitude Be available to listen to fears and concerns
A nurse is caring for a patient with bone cancer. The patient reports intolerable pain in the thigh. Which drug would be most effective for the severe musculoskeletal pain related to cancer?
Morphine
A patient is being treated with chemotherapy for testicular cancer. What side effects should the nurse monitor closely for? Select all that apply.
Nerve damage Kidney damage Pulmonary toxicity
The nurse is reviewing the laboratory reports of a patient diagnosed with cancer and finds that the patient has neutropenia. On examination, the nurse finds that the patient has a body temperature of 100.4° F (38° C). What is the priority nursing intervention in this situation?
Notifying the primary health care provider
A patient expresses concern over her risk factors for developing ovarian cancer since her mother and sister died from the disease. What should the nurse include when teaching about early detection of ovarian cancer?
Obtain annual bimanual pelvic examinations
A nurse is caring for a patient with breast cancer. The patient asks the nurse about the genetic basis of the disease. How should the nurse describe the gene that may initiate conversion of normal cells to cancer cells?
Oncogene
When discussing cancer diagnoses with a patient, which should the nurse identify as the only definitive method?
Pathologic evaluation
The nurse is assessing a patient who has been found to have a diffuse infiltrate on a chest x-ray. The patient states, "I am afraid that I have cancer." The nurse will assess the patient for which most common symptom of lung cancer?
Persistent cough
What is the most common symptom of lung cancer?
Persistent cough
The nurse is developing a program for a population with a high incidence of cancer and determines that the male population would benefit. What form of cancer for males should the nurse focus on?
Prostate cancer
The nurse is educating a student nurse about the seven warning signs of cancer. Which warning sign stated by the student nurse indicates the student requires further education?
Severe headache
The nurse is educating a patient about nutritional methods to decrease the risk of cancer. Which foods should the nurse advise the patient to avoid to decrease the risk of cancer? Select all that apply.
Smoked ham Salt-cured meat
When teaching the patient about reducing the risks of lung cancer, what is the most important topic for the nurse to address?
Smoking cessation
A patient reports tenderness and a lump in the breast. The primary health care provider records the size of the tumor to be 7 cm. The pathology report reveals two lymph nodes to be cancerous. Which stage of cancer is described?
Stage 2
After the complete assessment of a patient with lung cancer, the nurse finds that the patient has edema of neck and face. Which complication does the nurse expect in the patient?
Superior vena cava syndrome
A patient is in the promotion stage of cancer development. What action can the nurse take to facilitate cancer prevention?
Teach the patient promoting factors to avoid
The nurse is reviewing the role of the immune system in cancer development. Which of these statements explains the primary protective role of the immune system related to malignant cells?
The immune system provides surveillance for cells with tumor-associated antigens (TAAs).
A nurse is caring for a patient who is in the terminal stage of colon cancer. Two primary health care providers have certified that the patient's prognosis is terminal, with less than six months to live. The manager of a hospice care program reports that the patient is not eligible to receive hospice care. What is the most likely reason the manager has made this determination?
The patient does not agree to hospice care.
A patient with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer states to the nurse, "I don't understand how the cancer spread so fast." What is the best response by the nurse?
The pelvic lymphatics and blood vessels are intermingled.
The registered nurse is teaching a student nurse about cancer cell proliferation. Which statement given by the student nurse indicates a need for further teaching?
The rate of proliferation of cancer cells is more rapid than normal cells."
The nurse is caring for a patient who is diagnosed with stage I breast cancer. Which assessment finding corresponds with this diagnosis?
The size of the tumor is less than 2 cm.
The nurse is reviewing the medical record of a patient who has been newly diagnosed with testicular cancer. When considering the goal of curing cancer, the treatment is based on which of these principles?
Therapy will include a combination of treatment modalities.
A patient with head and neck cancer is scheduled for radiation therapy. Which instructions will the nurse provide to the patient prior to the first treatment to manage radiation side effects? Select all that apply.
Walk for about 30 minutes daily. Drink plenty of fluids.
When studying the incidence of skin cancers in a population, a nurse finds that a greater number of skin cancer cases have been reported in white patients than in African American patients. What could be the most likely cause of such an occurrence?
Whites have less melanin content in their skin than African Americans.
