Oncology Nursing During a Pandemic: Critical Reflections in the Context of COVID-19

Abstract

To provide a critical reflection of COVID-19 in the context of oncology nursing and provide recommendations for caring for people affected by cancer during this pandemic. Data sources: Electronic databases, including CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, Scopus, professional web sites, and grey literature were searched using Google Scholar. Conclusion: Nurses are key stakeholders in developing and implementing policies regarding standards of care during the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic poses several challenges for oncology services. Oncology nurses are providing a pivotal role in the care and management of the novel COVID-19 in the year landmarked as the International Year of the Nurse. Implications for Nursing Practice: It is too early to tell what shape this pandemic will take and its impact on oncology care. However, several important clinical considerations have been discussed to inform oncology nursing care and practice.

Assessment of Turkish oncology nurses’ knowledge regarding COVID-19 during the current outbreak in Turkey

“…Healthcare systems and government response to COVID-19 are rapidly evolving worldwide [13]. It is estimated that half of the 43.5 million health workers in the world are nurses [14].…”

Living with cancer in the COVID-19 pandemic: An Italian survey on self-isolation at home

“…On the one hand, their perceived safety might be merely bounded to their selfisolation status, as a considerable number of participants expressed fear of going to the hospital and loss of control with regards to their cancer disease. On the other hand, their perceived risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection and its complications was lower than expected (Paterson et al, 2020;Vaughan, 2011), as only half of the participants believed to be at higher risk than the general population.…”

“…This seems reasonable in light of their urgent need for scans, blood monitoring, chemotherapy, surgery, and transplants, which, if delayed inde nitely, could mean loss of the window to treat. Health professionals should do their best to ensure continuity of care for these patients (ACV, 2020;Chan et al, 2020) while taking a proactive approach to diminish their challenges in accessing healthcare services (Paterson et al, 2020) in order to avoid that cancer patients pay the price for this pandemic.…”

Critical Health Conditions And Mental Health During Pandemic Covid-19

“…In response to the research questions, patients need to alter their beliefs about telehealth and work at conquering their fears. It is important to establish that healthcare policies should be altered to include telehealth as a primary way of scheduling appointments and seeing patients (Paterson et al, 2020). The paper denotes that patients need to receive their usual drugs other than scheduling appointments without which their conditions will worsen.…”