Nurses, depending on skill and knowledge, can encourage physical activity, refer patients to rehabilitation programs, and prescribe and monitor exercise in breast cancer population.

Adjuvant chemotherapy protocols used to treat women with breast cancer have evolved over the last decade and have dramatically altered the symptoms and symptom experiences of these women. The purpose of this study was to identify symptoms, symptom experiences, and resulting symptom distress encountered by women with breast cancer undergoing surgery and receiving current chemotherapy protocols. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 20 women for this study. Women were asked to tell their story and transcripts were analyzed using Colaizzi's procedural steps. Six themes emerged. The most important theme was that symptom experiences and symptom distress, similar among all 20 women, were congruent with the type of treatment. After surgery, women complained of numbness, pulling, and body image changes; while receiving Adriamycin and Cyclophosphamide, symptoms of intense nausea and hair loss caused distress; while receiving Paclitaxel, symptoms of intense bone pain and peripheral neuropathy caused distress. This study provides oncology nurses with a clear description of the symptoms, symptom experiences, and symptom distress women with breast cancer encounter during present-day treatment protocols. Knowing the symptoms and symptom experiences, as well as when they occur during treatment, provides oncology nurses with an opportunity to share with women about to start treatment for breast cancer the expected "normative" symptom experience. This in turn would allow women to anticipate symptoms, employ management strategies, and empower them to improve their cancer experience.

Computer-savvy patients and their personal support networks will avail themselves of Internet information, creating the need for new interaction patterns and relationships with providers.

This study provides oncology nurses with the awareness that beyond physical symptoms, women experience profound and precipitous emotional transformation following a diagnosis of breast cancer. It gives meaning to the devastation and symptom distress women experience that may be lessened if they are given adequate information and support. Women in the study who approached diagnosis and treatment more positively better incorporated the breast cancer process into their lives and better managed the side effects of treatment.