Patient Case Summary and Care Plan

Read about the patient case summary of Mrs. Jennie, a 45 yrs old female suffering from breast cancer. Get to know about the genetic assessment, interprofessional holistic plan of care, ethical dilemmas, legal and professional policies, and nursing care strategies.

Patient case summary and care plan
Patient case summary
Mrs. Jennie, a 45 yrs old female married for twenty years and mother of three children. She is
a widower, her husband passed away in a road traffic accident five years back. She is a
teacher. She is presented with the complaints of changes in the size and shape of the right
breast, fluid discharge from the nipples and mild pain in the right breast. On admission, she
was looking pale and weak. On investigation, her hemoglobin level was 10g/dl. Her family
history shows that her mother died of breast cancer 2 years back. Her vital signs at the time
of admission are temperature 37.2C, Heart rate – 62/mt, Respiratory rate- 18/mt and Spo2
97%. She is proposed for the genetic assessment test.
Genetics Assessment
Patient information
Case number
sex Male/Female
Date of birth
Report date
Clinical details
Test requested Genetic assessment for breast
Reason for request Family history of the breast for patients
mother and signs and symptoms of breast
cancer
Assessment results
DNA sequence variants Pathogenic modification identified in the

genes in the Breast Gene
DNA copy number variants exotic copy number variants detected in
BRCA1,
Interpretation
Mrs.Jennei found to be carrying the pathogenic mutation in the BRCA1 gene. This mutation
confirms that she is prone to develop breast cancer in the future. The patient and it also
represents the presence of cancer cells in the close relatives.
Inter professional holistic plan of care for the patient suffering from cancer has to meet the
physical, mental, and social needs of the patient (Ng,2017).Because the patient suffering from
cancer have to undergo a long process of therapy. Patient’s family has to be involved in
patient care. Patient and her family have to inform about the disease condition, potential
complications, and choice of treatment. The patient needs the support of an interdisciplinary
team in the process of recovery. The interdisciplinary team is composed of doctors, nurses,
allied health care professionals. The interdisciplinary team plans and implement the treatment
for the patient. Implementation of Ethical principles is essential in the nursing care of Jennie.
The nurse can suggest the treatment choices to the patient for her disease condition. Jennie
needs physical, mental and spiritual care in the therapy of cancer treatment. The nurse has to
understand the physical condition of the patient and get support from the chaplaincy
department for mental and spiritual care. The interdisciplinary. An ethical dilemma is
common in the nursing care of the patient with cancer (Ong, 2012). A common ethical
dilemma is choosing one and avoiding the other choice. The nurse has to undergo ethical
dilemmas in the care of the patient with breast cancer. Informed consent is also an ethical
dilemma that a nurse undergoes while caring for the patient with breast cancer.

Legal and professional policies state that the patient has to receive safe and quality nursing
care. Essential professional policy related to the care of the patient with cancer is an
explanation of the stage of cancer and the potential complications. The interdisciplinary
team needs to provide physical, mental and social care of the patient. Standards of the nursing
care practice have to be maintained. People in authority have to manage the health care
system. Inter professional care for Jennie includes holistic patient care. The nurse has to use
proper communication skills and language to ensure better understanding and inter
professional relationship between nurse and patient.
As the team member of the interdisciplinary team, the nurse has to co-operate with other team
members for a better outcome. Trust and respect are essential tools to work as a team in the
care of Jennie. Nursing care strategies have to implement for the speedy recovery of the
patient. The nurse has to ensure safe and quality nursing care (Soukup, 2018). Primarily the
nurse has to understand the physical and emotional need of the patient. Plan the nursing
interventions to meet the physical and emotional need of the patient. Build an interpersonal
relationship with the patient and family. Education is the part of nursing care; the nurse needs
to educate the patient about pain management strategies. Patient education also includes the
process of treatment and management of adverse effects of chemotherapy and radiation
therapy.
References
Ng, Z. X., et al. (2017). Breast Cancer: Exploring the Facts and Holistic Needs during and
beyond Treatment. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 5(2), 26.
doi:10.3390/healthcare5020026
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5492029/

Ong, W. Y.,et al. (2012). Ethical dilemmas in the care of cancer patients near the end of
life. Singapore medical journal, 53(1), 11-16
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22252176
Soukup, et al. (2018). Successful strategies in implementing a multidisciplinary team
working in the care of patients with cancer: an overview and synthesis of the available
literature. Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare, 11, 49
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5783021/