Policy and procedure Development - Essay Example

Policy and Procedure development Fatigue Relief for Chemotherapy Cancer Patients through Massage Policy & Procedure Cancer policies and procedures are standard that govern the treatment of cancer. The policies help practitioners make decisions, follow a course of action and attain a predetermined goal (Berger, 2012). The procedures for managing cancer fatigue include psychological patient’s preparation and awareness creation. The procedures follow the stipulated laws and regulations by the medicine board to provide quality evidence-based and safe practices (Berger, 2012).

All practices have to undergo a piloting program to determine their effectives and any possible risk. One such policy is the massage policy to control fatigue for cancer patients. The following policy and procedure provides a guide for the management of fatigue for cancer patients.Intent for ChangeRelaxing body massage is a proven non-pharmacological fatigue management therapy for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment (Bower, 2014). Back massage for cancer in-patients undergoing chemotherapy was developed through a randomized clinical trial in a controlled study.

The study involved seventy patients who were divided into two groups including the control group and the group undergoing massage therapy (Mazlum, Chaharsoughi, Banihashem, & Vashani, 2013). The massage group received the service for 20 minutes every day 24 hours before chemotherapy and 24 hours after. The results from both control and massaged groups were recorded regarding the indices of vomiting and nausea in the measures of time, length, severity, and incidence. The results were later assessed using a Visual Analogue Scale and also using the BARF scales (Mazlum et al., 2013). The results were later analyzed using chi-square and Mann-Whitney.

The analysis indicated that the incidences of nausea among the massaged group had reduced by 25.7 percent, the times, length, and severity had reduced by 0.35 times, 54 minutes, and 20 percent respectively (Mazlum et al., 2013). The research led to the conclusion that back massage on in-patients undergoing chemotherapy was essential. The nausea and vomiting effects were reduced significantly among all cancer patients receiving the massage. The instances of nausea and vomiting among the control group remained unchanged.

The study led to the formulation of massage policies for patients receiving chemotherapy (Mazlum et al., 2013). Specialized massages combined with other non-pharmacological practices such as physical exercise have proved useful in the control of body fatigue. Long usage of drugs to stimulate the body overworks the body cells and is detrimental more so to patients at the chronic cancer stages (Karagozoglu, 2013).Assessment NeedSpecialized cancer nurses and trained masseuse will help determine the patient’s knowledge on non-pharmacological fatigue management.

The cancer patient’s rights and family diversity will be taken into consideration so as to maintain the patients privacy. The nurses will determine the type of cancer and any particular detail before the start of the massage therapy. Patients with previous surgical operations history will have a different approach to massage as opposed to those undergoing pure chemotherapy (Collinge, 2012). Patients with disabilities or anxieties issues will receive special handling to avoid discomfort during the massage.

Draft policyPhysician and the medical practitioner will form a research team that will come up with the proposed procedure and policy. The research team will look into the whole process to assure the safety and the effectiveness. A legal consultation will help align the policy and procedure with state and federal medical laws (Barr, 2013).EducationThe physician will have an essential background of fatigue management of cancer patients upon which they will learn about back massage and its fatigue relief properties.

The practitioners will learn massage techniques such as deep tissue massage, soft caresses, sports massage, and reflexology. The physician will also learn stroking, kneading and pressing the body tissue for mentally and emotional relaxation. ReferenceBarr, J., Fraser, G. L., Puntillo, K., Ely, E. W., Gélinas, C., Dasta, J. F., . &Jaeschke, R. (2013). Clinical practice guidelines for the management of pain, agitation, and delirium in adult patients in the intensive care unit. Critical care medicine, 41(1), 263-306.Berger, A. M.

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cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancers-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative/therapies/laetrile Collinge, W., MacDonald, G., & Walton, T. (2012, February). Massage in supportive cancer care. In Seminars in oncology nursing 28(1) pp. 45-54. WB Saunders.Karagozoglu, S., &Kahve, E. (2013). Effects of back massage on chemotherapy-related fatigue and anxiety: Supportive care and therapeutic touch in cancer nursing. Applied Nursing Research, 26(4), 210-217.Mazlum, S., Chaharsoughi, N. T., Banihashem, A.

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