complete issue - School of Nursing - University of Pittsburgh

ONCOLOGYImproving Quality of Life and Care forCancer PatientsPittsburgh School of Medicine, EmoryUniversity School of Medicine, and theUniversity of Washington School ofNursing to study cognitive function andmood related to cancer treatment.Following breast cancer therapy,women report problems with memory,attention, and decision making. Thesewomen have been told they are probablycured of their disease— they maintaintheir jobs, their families, and socialobligations —but they say they just can’tmultitask the way they used to. Andtheir families may not understand—thefamilies want to move on, but their lovedone isn’t the same person she was beforeher diagnosis.Bender is not only describing theproblem but looking at the potentialphysiological underpinnings of the problem.With funding from the NationalInstitutes of Health (NIH), Bender istesting behavioral and pharmacologicalinterventions to ameliorate cognitiveimpairment and prevent depressionassociated with cancer treatment.Pharmacologic interventions her grouphas studied include giving patientsantidepressants prophylactically beforethey start treatment. The group also haslooked at behavioral interventions suchas teaching compensatory strategies tohelp patients handle the problems theyexperience as a result of their cancertreatment. The goal of Bender’sstudies is to get patients’ lives back toas close to normal as possible followingcancer treatment.Bender also is leading a projectfunded by Oncology Nursing Society(ONS) tobacco settlement funds.Working with researchers from the ONSand the oncology nursing research groupat the School of Nursing, Bender is lookingat how symptoms cluster in peoplewith cancer as a comorbidity with otherchronic illnesses. A symptom cluster isthree or more concurrent symptoms thatare related to and influence one another.As the number of cancer survivorsincreases, it is important to know howa past diagnosis of cancer influences thesymptom clusters experienced with otherchronic health problems.Imagine you are a 48-year-old womandiagnosed with breast cancer. You’vecompleted treatment, which includessurgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy.And now, as a result of yourtreatment, you’ve been thrust into apremature menopause. You’re experiencinghot flashes, sleep disturbances, andnight sweats—a legacy of your therapyyou have to live with.Because hormonal therapies mayincrease the risk of reoccurrence, theyare not an option for most cancer survivors.Susan M. Cohen, DSN, APRN,associate professor in the Departmentof Health Promotion and Development,is researching alternative ways to managemenopausal symptoms, includingacupuncture and mindfulness meditation.Funded by the NIH, her research hasdemonstrated a 50 percent reduction inthe number of hot flashes women experiencewith acupuncture.Women diagnosed with ovarian canceralso must cope with symptoms fromthe disease and its treatment. Heidi S.Donovan, PhD, RN, assistant professorin the Department of Acute and TertiaryCare, is researching symptom managementin women diagnosed with ovariancancer. In collaboration with the NationalOvarian Cancer Coalition, Donovanhas conducted research to describe thesymptoms these women experience, thecognitive and emotional responses tomultiple symptoms, and how symptomsaffect coping and quality of life.Using that information, Donovandeveloped an innovative psycho-educationalintervention to help women withrecurrent ovarian cancer manage theirmultiple symptoms. With funding fromthe NIH, Donovan and co-investigatorsfrom the University of Pittsburgh andthe University of Wisconsin are evaluatingthe feasibility of nurses deliveringthis intervention via secure Internetmessage boards. In addition, they will beevaluating whether the Internet-basedintervention helps women with recurrentp i t t N u r s e W i n t e r 2 0 0 6