Lumbar puncture and intrathecal chemo patient implications???.. WHAT?

[Student2001]

I`m not understanding what i`m supposed to do here.. i`m supposed to do this pre-assignment before our oncology clinical but I don`t understand what they are asking here.. what do they want when they ask for "patient implications"?

do they want complications..? like headaches, infection, bleeding or whats "expected" which is what "implication means".. but that doesn`t make sense

[Double-Helix, BSN, RN]

Patient implications are not just complications, but any affects that this procedure might have on the patient. Anxiety, pain, positioning issues, risk for infection, bleeding, need for teaching, need for premedication, etc.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

In other words.....what can you anticipate in the realm of possibilities for reactions to this procedure and then naturally you will need to start thinking about what you would/could/should do if any of those reactions happen. That is what is meant by patient implications. This includes physical, emotional and psychosocial. Don't ignore the last two.

Consider the disease as a whole and then the different facets of the treatment...what condition is the patient likely in when needing this kind of procedure and how does that affect the procedure itself? What are the potential ramifications of sticking a needle into someone's spine? What are the potential ramifications of any sedation used prior to doing so? What are the potential ramifications of the drugs used? What might the patient experience on an emotional level in having this treatment/procedure? What kinds of cancer are treated this way and what are the ramifications of those and how do those complicate what could happen? Any issues you can foresee for the patient's caregivers or family?

[Student2001]

Ok. that makes sense.. also I'm supposed to do nursing interventions for this .. so i`m guessing i`m going to just work from what what i write in implications.