With increasing survival rates in the breast cancer population,
symptoms resulting from treatments are inevitable. To
alleviate the side effects, nurses must focus on resolving gaps in
the literature through ongoing research. Nurses must identify assessment tools that evaluate the impact of the polysymptomatic
nature of interrelated symptoms resulting from treatment,
rather than individual symptoms in isolation. To avoid bias, assessment
tools should be standardized and expand beyond selfreports.
This would be especially beneficial in the identification
of often-subjective psychological syndromes, including fatigue,
depression, and anxiety. It would also allow for more accurate
comparison across studies, specifically by creating uniform
diagnostic criteria for severe psychological symptoms such
as fatigue, depression, and anxiety. Furthermore, assessments
should evaluate concurrent and interrelated symptoms rather
than focusing on individual symptoms.