The nurse develops a list of nursing diagnoses for a patient receiving intravenous chemotherapy for breast cancer. The patient tells the nurse, "I understand that I will lose most of my hair. Will it grow back?"

Question

Which of the following diagnoses will have the highest priority?
a.
Disturbed body image
b.
Nausea
c.
Risk for bleeding
d.
Imbalanced nutrition: less than body requirements

Answer 1

ANS: A
Priority of nursing diagnoses is determined by the patient's preference as well as the severity of the symptoms. The patient is concerned about the loss of hair because this will affect body image. For her, this is a prime focus. The patient may experience nausea as a result of the chemotherapy drugs. The patient will not be able to eat properly if the nausea is not controlled thus decreasing nutritional intake. There is a potential for bleeding as a result of the low platelet count created by the drugs. All of these must be addressed, but the primary diagnosis, in this case, would be body image.