Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
complementary therapies and strategies to counteract anticipatory
nausea and vomiting may be helpful.
Although this study demonstrates that the use of daily diary cards
does not evoke a conditioned response in patients undergoing
chemotherapy treatment for cancer, some patients report that their
use can have adverse effects. Despite the fact that many patients
fail to complete them as instructed, useful information can be
obtained from them. Healthcare professionals need to be aware that
the information provided on them may not report the real
significance of patients’ symptoms.
The degree of support provided to patients undergoing
chemotherapy needs to be increased. This might include greater use
of complementary therapies, greater psychological support of
patients, and increased concentration on patients’ symptom control
rather than just disease control.
Further research
The findings from the study generated ideas for possible future
research that support collaborative working between researchers,
nurses and patients, helping to inform nursing practice and the
development of cancer services that meet the needs of patients. It
would be interesting to conduct a study which would compare and
contrast different treatment interventions, such as complementary
therapies with conventional treatments with regards to specific
patient outcomes, for example, nausea and vomiting. Indigestion
was documented in the DDCs and mentioned by several of the
patients interviewed as being problematic therefore it might be
valuable to explore the benefits of using prophylactic antacids to
ease or prevent this unpleasant symptom.
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