Lung Cancer: Diagnosis and Management
Course #30724 - $60 -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
Lung cancer is the second most common cancer affecting both men and women in the United States. Although it has been linked primarily with smoking and environmental factors, this disease can affect patients regardless of their occupation or lifestyle. Within the general diagnosis of lung cancer, there are several types, each with its own clinical course and prognosis. It is important that healthcare professionals understand these differences as they care for patients with the diagnosis of lung carcinoma. Multiple treatment options are available to patients with lung cancer. Traditional methods, such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, continue to be the mainstays, but alternative methods are also being increasingly developed and used. Many of the treatment options available to patients with lung cancer have extensive side effects, which should be discussed and minimized as much as possible.
- INTRODUCTION
- EPIDEMIOLOGY
- PREVENTION AND SCREENING
- PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF LUNG CANCER
- SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
- DIAGNOSIS
- CLASSIFICATION AND STAGING
- TREATMENT
- THE CLINICAL COURSE OF LUNG CANCER
- CONDITIONS CAUSED BY ADVANCED LUNG CANCER AND CANCER TREATMENTS
- VASCULAR ACCESS DEVICES
- THE TERMINAL PATIENT
- CASE MANAGEMENT OF THE PATIENT WITH LUNG CANCER
- PATIENT TEACHING GOALS
- CASE STUDY
- CONCLUSION
- RESOURCES
- APPENDIX 1: SAMPLE CASE MANAGEMENT CARE PLANS
- Works Cited
- Evidence-Based Practice Recommendations Citations
This course is designed for all nurses, especially those involved in the care of patients with lung cancer.
The purpose of this course is to address the various aspects of diagnosis, treatment, disease management and appropriate patient care for healthcare professionals caring for patients with lung cancer.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Discuss the risk factors and incidence of lung cancer.
- Explain the pathophysiology of lung cancer.
- Identify the signs and symptoms of lung cancer.
- Discuss the various tests used to diagnose lung cancer.
- Describe the lung cancer classification and staging system.
- Discuss the treatment options available to the patient with lung cancer, including potential adverse effects.
- Discuss the clinical course of a patient with lung cancer.
- Describe conditions caused by advanced lung cancer and lung cancer treatments.
- Identify the vascular access devices (VADs) commonly used in the treatment and management of lung cancer.
- Define grief and loss and identify measures to facilitate the grieving process.
- Differentiate between advance directives, physician directives, and do not resuscitate (DNR) orders.
- Explain the hospice concept.
- Discuss nursing case management and clinical pathways of the patient with lung cancer.
- List patient teaching goals that are useful for patients with lung cancer.
Marilyn Fuller Delong, MA, BSN, RN, received her basic nursing education at St. Luke's School of Nursing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, her BSN from Coe College and her MA from California State University, Long Beach. She has worked throughout the United States both clinically and as an educator. Her continuing education classes have focused on the case management aspects of the care of orthopedic and pulmonary patients, with particular focus on the long-term care needs of the elderly and disabled.
Mary Franks, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and NetCE Nurse Planner. She works as a Nurse Division Planner for NetCE and a per diem nurse practitioner in urgent care in Central Illinois. Mary graduated with her Associate’s degree in nursing from Carl Sandburg College, her BSN from OSF Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing in 2013, and her MSN with a focus on nursing education from Chamberlain University in 2017. She received a second master's degree in nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner from Chamberlain University in 2019. She is an adjunct faculty member for a local university in Central Illinois in the MSN FNP program. Her previous nursing experience includes emergency/trauma nursing, critical care nursing, surgery, pediatrics, and urgent care. As a nurse practitioner, she has practiced as a primary care provider for long-term care facilities and school-based health services. She enjoys caring for minor illnesses and injuries, prevention of disease processes, health, and wellness. In her spare time, she stays busy with her two children and husband, coaching baseball, staying active with her own personal fitness journey, and cooking. She is a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and the Illinois Society of Advanced Practice Nursing, for which she is a member of the bylaws committee.
Contributing faculty, Marilyn Fuller Delong, MA, BSN, RN, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Contributing faculty, Mary Franks, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sharon Cannon, RN, EdD, ANEF
The division planner has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners.
Supported browsers for Windows include Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.0 and up, Mozilla Firefox 3.0 and up, Opera 9.0 and up, and Google Chrome. Supported browsers for Macintosh include Safari, Mozilla Firefox 3.0 and up, Opera 9.0 and up, and Google Chrome. Other operating systems and browsers that include complete implementations of ECMAScript edition 3 and CSS 2.0 may work, but are not supported. Supported browsers must utilize the TLS encryption protocol v1.1 or v1.2 in order to connect to pages that require a secured HTTPS connection. TLS v1.0 is not supported.
The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.