Anna is a fifty five year old woman who was admitted to the Emergency Department of Victoria Hospital in London, Ontario for pelvic pain and postmenopausal bleeding. Upon further assessment, it was discovered that Anna is currently homeless, unemployed, and has little contact with her family. During the nurse’s head-to-toe assessment it was found that the patient had abdominal distention and her physician ordered an X-ray for her to determine if a gastrointestinal issue caused this distention. Once this was ruled out, Anna’s physicians continued to search for the underlying cause of her abdominal distention, in addition to her other admitting symptoms. Anna was then admitted to the hospital as an inpatient on the medicine unit. The day following
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In Anna’s case her cancer had a genetic component, she had the BRCA gene, which makes people at a much higher risk of developing ovarian cancer (). Had Anna had the genetic screening done to see if she had the BRCA gene, she could have had other options, which could have resulted in a better prognosis for her. For example, she could have considered having a prophylactic hysterectomy as preventative measures ().
Another major gap and barrier within the healthcare system is the increasing shortage of General Practitioners (GP) (). 15.5% of Canadians over the age of twelve, approximately 4.6 million people reported to not have a regular GP (Statistics Canada, 2013). This gap in the healthcare system impacted Anna’s situation because she was one of the many Canadians living without a family doctor. Attending regular check-ups with a GP are important because they can help identify problems in early stages when the chances of a positive response to treatment and cure are higher (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Had Anna been regularly seeing a GP, they might have caught her cancer earlier, as her symptoms could have been detected as those commonly associated with ovarian cancer. Additionally, if Anna had a GP, he or she could have referred her to be screened for the BRCA gene, as she had a family history of ovarian cancer. Screening for mutations within the BRCA gene for those with a family history of ovarian cancer can be used as a prognostic and preventive tool for detection and prevention, as mutation to this gene put people at an increased risk for developing ovarian cancer (Toss et al.,
In Anna’s case her cancer had a genetic component, she had the BRCA gene, which makes people at a much higher risk of developing ovarian cancer (). Had Anna had the genetic screening done to see if she had the BRCA gene, she could have had other options, which could have resulted in a better prognosis for her. For example, she could have considered having a prophylactic hysterectomy as preventative measures ().
Another major gap and barrier within the healthcare system is the increasing shortage of General Practitioners (GP) (). 15.5% of Canadians over the age of twelve, approximately 4.6 million people reported to not have a regular GP (Statistics Canada, 2013). This gap in the healthcare system impacted Anna’s situation because she was one of the many Canadians living without a family doctor. Attending regular check-ups with a GP are important because they can help identify problems in early stages when the chances of a positive response to treatment and cure are higher (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Had Anna been regularly seeing a GP, they might have caught her cancer earlier, as her symptoms could have been detected as those commonly associated with ovarian cancer. Additionally, if Anna had a GP, he or she could have referred her to be screened for the BRCA gene, as she had a family history of ovarian cancer. Screening for mutations within the BRCA gene for those with a family history of ovarian cancer can be used as a prognostic and preventive tool for detection and prevention, as mutation to this gene put people at an increased risk for developing ovarian cancer (Toss et al.,