A 78-year-old woman presents at the emergency department with complain

A 78-year-old woman presents at the emergency department with complaints of shortness of breath. She has a history of radiation therapy for a lung mass 7 years ago.

When the client asks the nurse if it could be cancer again, the most therapeutic response would be:
1. “At your age, shortness of breath could be a result of any number of things.”
2. “That is a possibility but it could also be a result of your radiation therapy.”
3. “What makes you think that? Shortness of breath can have many different caus-es.”
4. “I wouldn’t jump to that conclusion. Let’s just see what your health care provider thinks.”

ANSWER

ANS: 2
Cancer survivors are at increased risk for cancer (either a recurrence of the cancer for which they were treated or a second cancer) and for a wide range of treatment-related problems (IOM, 2006).
While shortness of breath could be caused by many things, it does not address the client’s con-cern regarding reoccurring cancer.
While shortness of breath could be caused by many things, it does not address the client’s con-cern regarding reoccurring cancer.
Telling the client not to jump to conclusions minimizes the client’s concern.