Nursing Interventions: Bladder Cancer

1. Encourage the patient to express feelings and concerns about the extent of the cancer.
2. To relieve discomfort administer ordered analgesics for pain as necessary.
3. Implement comfort measures and provide distractions that will enable the patient to relax.
4. As appropriate, implement measures to prevent or alleviate complications of treatment.
5. Monitor the patient’s intake and output. Question him regularly about changes in his urine elimination pattern to detect changes in his condition.
6. Observe the patient’s urine for signs of hematuria (reddish tint to gross bloodiness).
7. Monitor the patient’s laboratory tests, such as changes in white blood cell differential, indicating possible bone marrow suppression from chemotherapy.
8. If the patient is being given intravesical chemotherapy, watch closely for myelosuppression, chemical cystitis, and skin rash.
9. Instruct the patient and the family about the types of treatment that are being planned for him.
10. Teach the patient and family to recognize and to manage adverse effects of chemotherapy.
11. Stress the importance of notifying the doctor if the patient develops signs and symptoms of urinary tract infection or other sudden changes in his condition.