Assisting women's treatment decisions

Abstract

With advances in medical imaging, diagnosis and treatment options, particularly in areas such as breast cancer care, more women are turning to their nurses for assistance in decision-making about treatment options and health care. However, many nurses often feel unprepared for this role, and are unsure how to provide appropriate decision support. Budden says that these roles are now being formally recognized as nursing responsibility in documents such as the Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia and Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses in Australia. Nurses can look forward to more evidence-based guidance for providing decision support and reducing the distress levels for patients in the near future.