Once cancer has been diagnosed, an initial assessment of all aspects of the child or adolescent’s specific healthcare needs, including physical, psychosocial, educational etc., should be carried out by the children’s nurse. The nurse reviews the treatment plan along with the oncologist, becomes aware of expected outcomes and possible complications, and independently assesses the patient’s physiological status. Physiological assessment of a 15 year old with a soft-tissue tumour such as Hodgkin’s lymphoma should focus on the adolescent’s general condition. The children’s nurse should obtain the adolescent’s height and weight on initial assessment to provide a baseline in which growth patterns during treatment can be measured and so that chemotherapeutic drug dosages can be calculated. Assessment of the area and size of the tumour should also be performed. With Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, the majority of patients present with a …show more content…
Adolescence is a time of physical, psychological, cognitive and social transition Specific developmental hurdles must be overcome to help an adolescent successfully adapt to adult life. These include establishing an identity and body image, gaining independence, preparing for self-sufficiency and developing academic and social competencies A cancer diagnosis significantly challenges an adolescent’s psychosocial wellbeing as it can disrupt this developmental