Cancer Nursing: Principles and Practice, 5th Edition

Cancer Nursing: Principles and Practice is widely considered to be the basic textbook on cancer nursing. With this edition, every chapter has been updated to reflect the latest research and references, and many of the chapters now include website addresses for additional resources. As in past editions, the revised version of Cancer Nursing continues to present the most comprehensive information on oncology nursing from leading cancer nursing experts.

Written by 106 contributors (35 of whom are new since the last edition), the 85 chapters are divided into nine sections. Part I, The Cancer Problem, has been reorganized and updated, reflecting the increase in scientific knowledge regarding genes and cancer. Taking the reader through introductory material on cancer biology, immunology, carcinogenesis, and epidemiology, this section is well written and contains clear tables and illustrations that facilitate our understanding of these complex and continually evolving phenomena. Indeed, the book is very well illustrated overall, with a total of 327 illustrations, including 16 color plates.

Part II contains six chapters on prevention, detection, and diagnosis, including a well-organized and beautifully illustrated chapter on the nurse’s vital role in history assessment, physical examination, screening, and education. Since early detection and comprehensive diagnostic evaluations continue to be key for controlling the associated morbidity and cost of cancer, the reader will find the chapter on diagnostic evaluations, classifications, and staging to contain important material for review.

Part III offers 16 chapters on treatment, bringing the reader up to date on the principles of chemotherapy, biotherapy, and bone marrow/hematopoietic cell transplantation. This discussion provides an excellent understanding of acute and chronic treatment complications and how they are managed.

The editors are to be commended on their coverage of radiotherapy, which includes several extremely well-written chapters that have been expanded to provide a more comprehensive discussion of this modality. One chapter permits readers to feel as if they are being given a tour of a radiotherapy department, with concise information regarding the machines that deliver the therapy. This chapter is nicely illustrated with 13 figures of treatment simulators and positioning devices.

Covering symptom management, part IV contains 10 chapters on the assessment and treatment of cancer pain, infection, bleeding, fatigue, nutritional disturbances, hypercalcemia, paraneoplastic syndrome, malignant effusions, and sexual and reproductive dysfunction. The editors might consider expanding this section to incorporate the prevention, treatment, and management of toxicities related to therapy.

In response to reader requests, a new section on oncologic emergencies has been added to this edition as part V. These chapters cover cardiac tamponade, disseminated intravascular coagulation, septic shock, spinal cord compression, superior vena cava syndrome, syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone, and tumor lysis syndrome. The text includes the scope of the problem, physiologic alterations, clinical manifestations, physical assessment, and therapeutic approaches.

Part VI, entitled The Care of Individuals With Cancer, is comprised of 24 chapters covering 24 diseases, from AIDS-related malignancies to vulvar and vaginal cancer. These chapters incorporate the most current information regarding etiology, therapeutic approaches, management of symptoms, and supportive care.

Part VII, The Cancer Survivor, has three chapters that cover the psychological responses to cancer, as well as the physical, economic, and social issues confronting patients and families. The last chapter in this section delves effectively into spiritual and ethical end-of-life concerns.

Part VIII, Issues in the Delivery of Care, contains six chapters, four of which are newly revised. One chapter outlines the challenges to providing quality care in a health-care system that seeks to reduce hospital stays and health-care costs, and a health-care environment in which large segments of the most vulnerable members of society (eg, nonwhite, poor, and less educated) have less-than-equal access to health care. The need for nursing research in this area is emphasized as a means of improving and refining practice to ensure optimal outcomes.

Part IX addresses professional issues for the cancer nurse. The chapter on informatics is timely and provides a foundation of knowledge for cancer nurses regarding this important area of technology and its impact on cancer care. A chapter entitled Policy, Politics, and Oncology Nursing encourages nurses to use national and state professional nursing organizations as well as specialty nursing organizations to keep abreast of the influences and resulting legislative priorities and initiatives. The authors point out that astute nurses who are proactive can influence change and will be better prepared for roles in the health-care system of the future.

Finally, a chapter on resources for cancer nursing has been extensively expanded, reformatted, and indexed so that information is readily available and easily located. The information is current and is compiled from a variety of health- and oncology-related organizations and Internet resources.