Initiative to reduce pain for breast cancer patients by medical staff

Exercise for breast cancer patients

In medical facilities, nursing is the department that serves and cares for patients; ensuring safety.patient, behind the doctor. That is why many people often compare the hospital to a home, where peopledoctorplay the role of husband and the nurses themselves play the role of wife and mother.

For nurses in the Breast Surgery Department, patients are their own relatives. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

But at the Department of Breast Surgery, Oncology HospitalNghe AnThe nurses here do not think so. They still think: I am still a good wife, responsible and devoted, and the patient is the sick husband who needs to be closely monitored, devotedly and wholeheartedly cared for. The patient is a loved one, so the nurse must always think about how to achieve the highest efficiency in caring for the patient.

Perhaps it is from this thought that nurse Nguyen Thi Tam (32 years old) and her colleagues in the Breast Surgery Department are always troubled by the fact that most breast cancer patients after mastectomy still have pus and swelling in the armpit and wound area for a long time. Each time the pus and fluid are aspirated, the patient is in great pain. Many patients have been transferred to other departments but still have to return to the Breast Surgery Department to have the pus and fluid aspirated...

Nurses in the department have struggled to find exercises to help patients avoid complications after mastectomy. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

Through research, nurse Tam learned that the cause of this condition is that after surgery, the patient does not dare to move the arm for fear of pain and damage to the wound. Therefore, after a while, the patient will experience numbness, swelling of the arm and fluid accumulation in the armpit... "What should be done to change this condition?" - nurse Nguyen Thi Tam and other nurses in the Breast Surgery Department are still searching for the answer.

The question was asked a long time ago (since 2015) but nurse Tam and her colleagues still could not answer it. Nurses in the Breast Surgery Department still considered this a debt to their patients. And it was not until 3 years later, in 2018, that they found the answer.

Every morning, nurses are present in the patient's room to help patients exercise. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

Nurse Nguyen Thi Tam said: “Through research, we have integrated an exercise with 10 movements. If patients practice this exercise every day, it is certain that numbness in the hands, pus in the armpits and fluid retention will not occur. However, the important thing is how to help patients overcome their fear and persevere in practicing every day, even in conditions where there is no doctor or nurse to supervise.”

Thinking is doing, the nurses have implemented exercises for the patients in the department. To help patients overcome their fear, they have spent more time listening, understanding their thoughts, feelings and illnesses; visiting, comforting, encouraging and instructing patients more, especially instructing them on exercises.

Exercise not only helps patients reduce complications but also helps them feel more cheerful, optimistic and love life more. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

Every morning, nurses are present at the patient's bedside, encouraging the patients to wake up and gather in the department's nutrition consultation and exercise room to exercise together (this is a beautifully decorated room, aiming to create a comfortable and optimistic mood for the patients).

For those who are still in pain and cannot walk much, nurses will guide them to practice right in bed. Every Thursday evening, nurses from the department have a consultation session, talking with patients, helping patients to be optimistic, love life, and feel secure in following the treatment regimen and instructions of the doctors.

Nurse Nguyen Thi Tam also added: "Initially, to help patients grasp and remember the exercise exercises for a long time so that they can practice them regularly even after transferring to another department or being discharged from the hospital, we printed the exercises on paper and distributed them to the patients.

The nurses' regular consultation and conversation helped patients feel comfortable and confident in following the treatment regimen and instructions of the doctors. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

This method is effective but the results are not as expected because there are elderly patients who cannot visualize the exercises, and do not know how to do them after watching them. After 2 years of the exercise being released, we have found a new way to convey it, which is to directly record the exercises, edit them into a short video to send to patients and their families. This method has been very effective…

Since the patient started exercising, the phenomenon of fluid accumulation in the armpit has almost disappeared, but the phenomenon of numbness and tingling in the hands has completely stopped. In addition, exercising also helps the patient to be more cheerful, optimistic and love life more.

Smart clean closet

According to nurse Nguyen Thi Tam, taking care of the patient's spirit is as important as treating the disease. Before treatment, the patient's soul needs to be taken care of. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

During their duties, nurses in the Breast Surgery Department noticed that cancer patients often had a pessimistic and depressed mentality. They still thought that cancer meant death. Therefore, many people who were admitted to the hospital cried a lot, some even threatened to commit suicide.

At this time, the nurses were the first to reassure and encourage the patient: “Breast cancer is not easy to kill, life expectancy can be extended if the patient has faith in overcoming the disease. If you have a good spirit, you will eat well, have good resistance and the treatment will be more effective…”.

The actual treatment has helped the nurses of the Breast Surgery Department to be more aware that taking care of the patient’s spirit is as important as treating the disease. Before treating the disease, it is necessary to take care of the soul…

Nurses in the Breast Surgery Department have come up with the idea of ​​building a smart clean cabinet to bring convenience to patients. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

From this awareness, the nurses in the Breast Surgery Department proposed that the Department allow them to repair and redecorate the reception room - the nutrition consultation and exercise room so that when patients come here, they can escape the "crowded" and "suffocating" feeling of the hospital room. In this room, 14 nurses of the department still take turns trying to use "laughter" to encourage, support and guide patients.

How to make patients feel more comfortable right from the moment they enter the department and start a treatment? – Nurses in the Breast Surgery Department have come up with many useful ideas. One of them is the construction of a smart clean cabinet.

The blankets and mats are taken from the bottom first, this avoids mold. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

Nurse Nguyen Thi Tam said: When a patient enters the department, the patient will be given clothes, patient and family cards, and blankets. Previously, the arrangement was not scientific, leading to a time-consuming process of giving out items to patients, because each item was distributed in a different place. Blankets and clothes can get moldy due to being stacked on top of each other. Blankets and clothes under the cabinet can take a long time to be used. Not to mention that there are patients who are not given clothes of the right size.

All the “discomfort” that patients experience when they first enter the department can greatly affect their psychology and the treatment process. The smart clean cabinet overcomes all of that.

The cabinet has 3 separate compartments, marked with 3 colored lines corresponding to the patient's clothing size. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

“Smart clean cabinet” is simply a well-designed cabinet, where the items given to patients are arranged in a very scientific way. In the cabinet, blankets and mats are placed on top, when giving them to patients, nurses will take out the blankets and mats at the bottom first.

The cabinet has 3 separate compartments, marked with 3 colored lines corresponding to the size of the patient's clothes. In the 3 compartments, there are small bags containing 1 set of patient clothes, 1 patient card and 1 patient's family card. When there is a patient, the nurse can observe the patient's condition, quickly choose a compatible bag... The bag distribution is also done from the bottom first, helping to keep the patient's clothes new and avoid mold.

Obviously, the “Smart Clean Cabinet” creates great convenience, bringing satisfaction to patients right from the moment they enter the Breast Surgery Department. And to create that convenience, nurses have to work harder when they have more work.

Clean kit given to patients includes 1 set of patient clothes, 1 patient card and 1 patient's family card. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

However, for the nurses here, they do not mind the hardship, the safety, comfort and satisfaction of the patients are the most important and top priority. The quality of a hospital depends a lot on the attitude, dedication and devotion of the nurses themselves.

Thanh Chung - Dinh Tuyen