ONCOLOGICAL EMERGENCIES AND URGENCIES: NURSING AND ITS CARE

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: An oncological emergency encompasses a set of complications that arise during the course of treatment of cancer patients, placing them at greater risk of morbidity, sequelae or death. Thus, it requires comprehensive and in-depth knowledge from nurses who care for patients. OBJECTIVE: To understand the care and nursing provided in oncological emergencies. METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS: This was an integrative review of the literature, whose guiding question was: What were the nursing care reported in the literature for cancer patients facing situations of oncological emergencies? The search was carried out in the BVS, through the databases: MEDLINE, LILACS, PUBMED and BDENF. The descriptors registered in DeCS were adopted, namely: emergencies; emergencies; oncological nursing; nursing assistance; nursing care, combined with the Boolean operators AND and OR. The inclusion criteria established for sample selection were: articles available in full online, in Portuguese, English and Spanish, published in the last five years, in selected indexed databases, addressing the role of nurses in emergency care units in oncological urgent and emergency situations. Scientific productions that were not related to the scope of the study and duplicate articles were excluded. After identifying the articles, the abstracts were read and the works to be included in this study were carefully selected, and the results were arranged in tables and compared with the relevant literature. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS: Cancer is a major public health challenge, requiring research and humanized care. In this context, oncological emergencies, which can occur at various stages of the disease, require immediate intervention and are divided into several categories. Thus, team collaboration and continuing education are essential to ensure effective care, since many nursing professionals still lack adequate training, requiring solid skills and understanding of possible complications. CONCLUSION: Oncology patients require a comprehensive and humanized approach, considering the various complex aspects of this disease. In this context, the knowledge of health professionals is essential so that they can be prepared to face any oncological emergencies. Therefore, continuous training of nurses and investment in public health services are essential to ensure effective and quality care.