Common Clinical Problems and Nursing Care for Individuals with Primary Brain Tumors
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19801847Keywords:
Holistic Care, Nursing Care, Nursing Interventions, Clinical Problems, Primary Brain TumorsAbstract
Primary brain tumors, a subgroup of central nervous system tumors, occur infrequently. However, they are associated with high rates of mortality and morbidity, and significantly reduce the quality of life of the affected individuals. A range of physical, neurological, and psychosocial problems can arise in the clinical setting due to the tumor itself or as a result of medical interventions like surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. These clinical issues may include increased intracranial pressure, syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH), cerebral salt wasting syndrome (CSWS), venous thromboembolism, epileptic seizures, dysphagia, headache, cognitive dysfunction, sleep disorders, fatigue, and emotional symptoms. These problems often occur synchronously, disrupt daily functioning, lead to greater care dependency, and complicate the nursing process. In this review, we aim to discuss frequent clinical problems in individuals with primary brain tumors encountered by nursing staff and to address appropriate and comprehensive nursing strategies guided by recent literature. We emphasize that the nursing staff must actively participate in the processes of early diagnosis, planning, management, education, follow-up, and evaluation of these individuals. Systematically reviewing the nursing interventions for these clinical issues may contribute to developing an individualized and holistic nursing care for these individuals. Structuring individualized, holistic, and evidence-based nursing care aims to preserve the functionality, prevent complications, and improve the quality of life of the affected individuals. Nursing staff can enhance their professional autonomy in the multidisciplinary caring team and improve the quality of nursing care by referring to the framework of this study.
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