Breast Cancer

When we are discussing minorities, we are usually referring to African American, Hispanic/Latino, and the American Indian/Alaska Natives in our society. In addition, underserved women are those who have a decreased income and socioeconomic status, lower education levels, commonly lack health insurance, and have limited access to healthcare in general. These patient populations are particularly challenging when facing the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.

It is interesting to read or see opposing views on an issue in medical care. Healthcare professionals do a wonderful job on quoting facts and research findings. What is normally missing is the voice of the patient.

Do you ever read the latest research studies and ponder that if you took a conclusion from one study and combined it with a conclusion from another, there might be an avenue for better navigation? This might be a hazard of reading too many findings at one setting!

Seventy percent of patients completing her acute treatment (surgery, chemo, and radiation) will be candidates for taking hormonal therapy. All too often, patients are not well informed, however, about the purpose of this pill to be taken once a day for 5 years or more, nor do they realize its level of importance.

This article continues our discussion of issues that can result in a medical malpractice case regarding breast cancer. Though not an exhaustive list, it summarizes (when combined with part 1) the most common reasons why a breast cancer patient or family member on behalf of the patient would pursue legal action against a provider.

In case you are not aware, the most common medical malpractice issue medical providers deal with today relates to breast cancer care—specifically, misdiagnosis, delay in diagnosis, and/or failure to follow standard of care. So it is probably not a surprise that the nation has a shortage of breast imaging radiologists and soon will be facing a shortage of breast oncologic specialists as well.

If all breast centers had Dr Ruth as a faculty member, there would be no need to write this article. But they do not. It is important to bring up this sensitive topic early in your interactions with your breast cancer patients. Usually the first thing a woman worries about, however, is her mortality.

Though most women diagnosed with breast cancer are good candidates for breast conservation therapy, there remains a portion of women diagnosed who need to undergo mastectomy.

When it comes to navigation, there is a tendency for us to focus on patients who will be surviving their cancer diagnosis and treatment. More and more patients with metastatic cancer, however, are surviving longer than ever before.

Oncology nurses for decades have assessed the psychological needs of their breast cancer patients. So it is not surprising that this assessment would become an important function for an oncology nurse navigator as well.