Description of the Clinical Issue, the Setting, and Population of Interest
The clinical problem for my project is concerned with palliative care for cancer patients. The population of interest is adult patients. The environment described in the proposal is the hospital setting. The purpose of my project is to investigate the possible advantages of palliative care over conventional care. As a result of the project, it is expected to obtain solid data concerning the benefits of palliative care over conventional care for patients suffering from cancer.
Clinical Question
The clinical question in the current study is, “In adult patients with cancer pain (p), what is the significance of receiving palliative care from the palliative care team (i) when compared to conventional care practice (c) in terms of pain intensity reduction and improved pain management (o) during their course of care (t)?”:
- P: Patients with cancer pains.
- I: Palliative management and consultations.
- C: Conventional care practice (no palliative care whatsoever).
- O: Reduced pain strength and enhanced pain management.
- T: The duration of care.
Proposed Intervention
The suggested intervention for the project is a developed practitioner-led intervention (Matzo & Sherman, 2014). As a result of this intervention, I plan to answer the question of whether palliative care gives better outcomes than conventional care in the treatment of adult patients with cancer. To organize this intervention, it will be necessary to identify patients who have cancer and allocate them into two groups: those receiving palliative care and the ones receiving conventional care. Researchers note the significance of palliative care (Howie & Peppercorn, 2013; Satija et al., 2014; Wilkie & Ezenwa, 2012). However, there is no substantial evidence of such practice to be the most effective one. Therefore, I want to check this theory with the help of my intervention.
The study conducted will be experimental. The rationale for such a choice is that it is necessary to compare the impact of two different types of care on patients with cancer. Thus, the groups will be randomly selected depending on the necessity to find the necessary number of patients in various hospitals.
Type of Study
As it was mentioned earlier, the type of study chosen for the intervention is experimental. Such a choice is delineated by the clinical study of the project. Since I need to compare the impact of two various types of care on the same population group, it is possible to assign people to the experimental and control groups randomly. Patients belonging to the experimental group will receive palliative care, and patients in the control group will take conventional treatment. As a result of this intervention, it will be possible to evaluate the advantages of palliative care over conventional care. It is expected that patients in the experimental group will experience reduced pain strength and enhanced pain management.
Theoretical Framework and Rationale
The theoretical framework for the project is based on Jean Watson’s theory of caring science (Revels, Goldberg, & Watson, 2016). With the help of this theory, it is possible to evaluate the quality of care provided for cancer patients. Watson’s theory focuses on the practice of caring as a core requirement in nursing (Revels et al., 2016). The rationale for choosing this theory is that it is the most closely connected to the clinical question of my project. Utilizing the theory of caring science will make it possible to find and evaluate the differences between the two kinds of care suggested for cancer patients.
References
Howie, L., & Peppercorn, J. (2013). Early palliative care in cancer treatment: Rationale, evidence and clinical implications. Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology, 5(6), 318-323. Web.
Matzo, M., & Sherman, D. (2014). Palliative care nursing: Quality care to the end of life (4th ed.). New York, NY: Springer. Web.
Revels, A., Goldberg, L., & Watson, J. (2016). Caring science: A theoretical framework for palliative care in the emergency department. International Journal for Human Caring, 20(4), 206-212. Web.
Satija, A., Ahmed, S. M., Gupta, R., Ahmed, A., Rana, S. P. S., …Bhatnagar, S. (2014). Breast cancer pain management – A review of current & novel therapies. The Indian Journal of Medical Research, 139(2), 216–225. Web.
Wilkie, D. J., & Ezenwa, M. O. (2012). Pain and symptom management in palliative care and at end of life. Nursing Outlook, 60(6), 357-357. Web.