Conceptual Model Assesses Cancer Patient Fatigue
Reduction Intervention
In a recent clinical trial, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
researchers, including Victoria Mock,
Christine St. Ours, Sue Hall, Anne Belcher and Sharon
Krumm, employed a conceptual model to test
the effects of a nurse-directed exercise intervention to
manage fatigue in cancer patients.
Fatigue, an almost universal symptom in cancer
patients undergoing chemotherapy, radiation
therapy or other intensive treatment, is viewed by patients
as the most distressing symptom of
treatment, one that can persist long after treatment
ends.
The researchers used the Levine Conservation Model to
guide their development and
implementation of a randomized study of patients being
treated with radiation therapy or adjunctive
chemotherapy following a cancer diagnosis. In the
theoretical paper, featured in the recent Journal of
Advanced Nursing, they report the model proved to be a
useful organizing framework for their study.
The authors note, "Our experience, applicable on an
international level, strongly supports the value of
using a conceptual model as a framework for nursing
research."
GO TO SEPTEMBER 4,
2007
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
GO TO THE GAZETTE
FRONT PAGE.
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