Question

A 49-year-old client is admitted with a diagnosis of cervical cancer. as the nurse is obtaining her health history, she says, "i haven’t had a pap smear for more than 5 years. i probably wouldn’t be in the hospital today if i’d had those tests more often." what is the nurse’s most appropriate response?

Answer 1

The nurse would most likely disagree with the patient. Pap smear is a diagnostic test that screens pre-cancerous or cancerous cells on the cervix, which is the opening of the uterus. It is recommended for women starting from the age 21 to regularly undergo this test, especially when sexually active. For the 49 year-old patient, she needs to undergo Pap smear test every 3 to 5 years. The patient should note that this test is used to track any abnormal cells in the cervix. When they do, early treatment would still be done in the hospital before it becomes even more serious. Hence, whether the patient took Pap smear tests regularly, she would still need the help of the hospital to treat it. It would only differ in the time of admittance.