Seeking Support for Patients with Familial Tumor -From the Perspective of Nursing-

Abstract

Based on my experiences in counseling outpatients, genetic counseling in a university hospital, and activities of a patient group with familial adenomatous polyposis, I examined the present situation and problems of providing support for patients with familial tumor from a nursing perspective. A variety of supportive activities are required depending on the situation, and in addition to providing appropriate information, it is important to perceive the reaction a patient or family members show when they “face familial tumor for the first time.”During the process in which we help patients and families optimize the tests and treatments they receive and let them share information among themselves, we should try to ease their burden as much as possible, which will enable them to take advantage of medicine throughout their whole lives. It is also necessary to support their decision making while providing information at important stages of the patient,s life such as school, job, marriage, and childbearing. Since such a process is highly individual as well as complicated, a system that enables genetic counseling should be established, along with continuing daily interaction. From the perspective of nursing, we are responsible for comprehensively assessing situations surrounding the patients and families and playing a direct or coordinating role in providing support according to the situation.