Comforting children during radiotherapy.

By keeping comfort as a central theme to guide interventions and practice, the radiation oncology nurse truly can address one of the high-incidence problem areas experienced by children receiving radiotherapy and by their families. More oncology nursing research is needed to identify the exact nurse behaviors and interventions that are deemed most comforting to children and their parents during a cancer diagnosis work-up, cancer therapies (including symptom management), and short- and long-term follow-up care. The global concept of comfort is alive in oncology nursing, but it must be continued, it must be cherished, it should be validated as part of a nurse's job performance, and it should be fostered in the oncology nursing and medical literature.