PREPARATION OF NURSING GUIDES FOR RADIOTHERAPY TOXICITY GUIDELINES

Introduction: The nursing team plays a fundamental role in the overall care of patients. In radiotherapy, among several attributions, the nurse plays a very important role in guiding the toxicities that patients may present. Therefore, this article presents the strategies used for the formulation of guidelines. patient guidelines that will undergo radiotherapy. Objective: To demonstrate how the nursing guide for toxicity guidelines for patients undergoing radiotherapy was constructed. Method: The guides were prepared for the radiotherapy service of the Immaculate Conception Hospital of Curvelo-MG, covering the main places commonly irradiated in order to serve as a reference to patients and professionals involved in the patient‘s educational process. Results: A total of 10 guides were developed as follows: Guide for Central Nervous System Radiotherapy Patients, prostate, pelvis, skin, soft tissues or bones, chest, breast, head and neck, abdomen, brachytherapy. The basic information for all guides was: 1. Radiotherapy treatment is outpatient. 2. Should be done daily from Monday to Friday. The radiotherapy doctor will tell you how many days of treatment will be. 3. Radiation is invisible and causes no pain during treatment. 4. Skin markings should be maintained until the end of treatment. 5. Treatment is localized, so it acts in a specific location, not reaching other locations outside the irradiation field and will be repeated the same every day. 6. No need for fasting before treatment, food or personal medications do not interfere with treatment. 7. Skin reactions may occur at the treatment site, do not apply creams to the area without medical advice. 8. The person does not become radioactive and presents no danger to others. 9. Each patient receives individual treatment and is not the same as another patient. 10. If you need medical certificates, reports and / or prescriptions, please ask our receptionists seven (7) days in advance. Information on the orientation of the treatment steps was inserted: first consultation, nursing guidance, simulation and / or planning, treatment and reviews, and the specific toxicities of each treatment site based on the literature. Conclusion: In addition to patient care, the radiotherapy nursing team needs to have the health education process inserted in their daily lives as an action strategy. This can use reference guides to homogenize information and ensure that it will be transmitted in its entirety.