NCLEX Chronic Illness Practice Questions Related

Review NCLEX Chronic Illness Practice Questions related questions and content

The nurse is caring for a patient who smokes two packs/day. Which action by the nurse could help reduce the patient's risk of lung cancer?

  • A. Teach the patient about the seven warning signs of cancer.
  • B. Plan to monitor the patient's carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level.
  • C. Teach the patient about annual chest x-rays for lung cancer screening.
  • D. Discuss risks associated with cigarette smoking during each patient encounter.
Correct Answer: D

Rationale: Smoking's the lung cancer kingpin two packs a day screams risk. Hitting the patient with smoking's dangers every visit pushes primary prevention, aiming to cut exposure to tar and carcinogens fueling 85% of cases. Warning signs (CAUTION) and chest x-rays are secondary catching cancer, not stopping it. CEA's a tumor marker for tracking, not prevention. Nurses in oncology know preaching cessation at every chance leverages behavior change, the gold standard to slash lung cancer odds, trumping screening or monitoring in a heavy smoker like this.