The doses of steroids prescribed to cancer patients can be high, resulting in disturbing symptoms for some patients. Nurses should advise patients and their families that while the steroids do cause patients to feel a sense of energy and even euphoria, steroids also adversely affect patients’ sleep and in some patients can even experience hallucinations. Nurses should also emphasise to patients that they will experience a drop in mood once the prescribed course of steroids has been completed.

Steroids are used in cancer treatment for a number of reasons.

They are used with chemotherapy because they help in treating the cancer. They reduce inflammation and also help to alleviate nausea. They boost the person’s appetite. Finally, for patients who have to have a haematopoietic stem cell transplant, steroids are used to reduce the person’s immune response.

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