Psychosocial assessment of a patient diagnosed with breast cancer
Introduction
About two hundred and fifty thousand women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year with more than forty thousand dying of the disease each year (US Institute of Medicine, 2008). The diagnosis of a patient with breast cancer is more often than not a life changing event because the diagnosis adversely impacts on the physical well being of the patient whilst posing a significant threat on the patient’s psychosocial well being (Schmid-Buchi et al., 2008). Patients diagnosed with breast cancer experience a wide array of emotions ranging from denial, anxiety, fear, depression, shock, amongst others that put them at risk of ...
