Nurses' perceptions of their supportive role for cancer patients: A qualitative study

Critical Care Nurses' Perspectives of Caring for Patients With Cancer

BACKGROUND

Critical care nurses are expected to work with patients who present with a wide range of health problems, but may lack sufficient education, skill development, and resources needed for providing psychosocial cancer care.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of nononcologic critical care nurses' experience working with patients and their families affected by cancer.

METHOD

A phenomenological qualitative study using semistructured interviews was conducted with 15 nononcologic critical care nurses. Colaizzi's 7-step methodology was followed for data analysis and interpretation of findings. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim, the narrative data were analyzed and coded, and themes were identified that were confirmed by participants.

RESULTS

Four themes emerged from the nurses' narratives: lack of professional preparation refers to the perceived lack of education, skill development, and resources; collaboration and teamwork pertain to the importance of communication and moral support; being present expresses their perceived role in providing compassionate care; and nurtured empathy reflects the impact of cancer care on the nurses.

DISCUSSION

The narratives provide insight into the experience and perceptions of the nononcologic critical care nurses caring for patients with cancer. Information from the themes and narratives can be used to inform the development of knowledge and skills for nononcologic nurses who provide care to patients with cancer.

Human Caring Perspectives of Care Meanings and Expressions in a Nigerian Cancer Care Setting

BACKGROUND

Caring in Africa is often viewed from sociopolitical and humanity perspectives.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to investigate the meanings and expressions of caring from the narratives of persons living with cancer and their nurses.

METHODS

This study adopted a qualitative ethnonursing methodology. A purposive sampling technique was used to select the key participants, who were grouped into 7 nurses and 6 patients. General participants included 4 physicians, 3 ward assistants, and 6 patients' relatives. Interviews of participants were digitally audio-taped and then transcribed verbatim. Data analysis in this study followed the phases of ethnonursing data analysis enabler and was conducted using NVivo 14 software. Data categories were reviewed and sorted to discover recurrent patterns within the data.

RESULTS

Caring was seen as a social practice that is both transactional and transformational. Six thematic patterns emerged: restoring hope, reaching out to the inner lifeworlds of the patients, mutual empathy, going the extra mile, compassionate presence, and being human/having a sense of human connection. The study revealed that there are discernible patterns in care needs and expectations, even though each cancer patient is unique in his or her specific care needs and expectations.

CONCLUSION

Caring in this study constituted a variety of meanings, and human caring was demonstrated and practiced interpersonally. Hence, there is evidence of living caring in everyday life, in observable ways.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Nurses should enhance both their own and the patient's sense of personal meaning in the caring partnership to enable them to be present in concrete unique nursing situations with the suffering human being.

A nursing perspective on inpatient sleep and circadian disruptions for pediatric stem cell transplant patients

BACKGROUND

Children treated with stem cell transplant (SCT) are routinely hospitalized for long periods where they are exposed to significant sleep and circadian disruptions. As nurses play a primary role in symptom management during SCT, we sought to understand their perspective on patient sleep and circadian disruptions, perceived barriers to a good sleep and circadian environment, and suggestions for improvement.

PROCEDURE

Four focus groups were conducted with pediatric SCT nurses (N = 25 participants). A semistructured focus group guide was administered, with the discussions recorded and transcribed. A multistage thematic analysis combining prefigured and emergent dimensions was conducted. Our analysis focused on drawing comparisons within and across focus groups to understand the unique work experiences that participants had related to the patient's sleep and circadian environment.

RESULTS

Three key themes emerged. First, nurses expressed a high awareness of how disruptive the hospital environment is for patients. Second, nurses described their extensive efforts to try to minimize the impact of these disruptions. Finally, they provided clear recommendations for how to improve upon these concerns, along with barriers that they perceive could impede implementation.

CONCLUSIONS

Front-line caregivers on a pediatric SCT unit describe key contributors to sleep/circadian disturbances for patients. Within the constraints of the considerable medical needs of this patient population and the physical room/hospital environment, nurses strive to minimize these disruptions to the best of their ability. It is crucial that hospitals assess and remediate these disturbances for these children that have important implications for overall health.

Oncology nurses' experiences of providing emotional support for cancer patients: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

A high percentage of cancer patients may experience emotional distress. Oncology nurses are expected to play an important role in recognizing emotional distress and planning and delivering care that meets the individual needs of each patient. However, few studies have focused on the experiences of clinical nurses in such cases. This study adopted a qualitative research method to gain an in-depth understanding of the experience of nursing staff in caring for cancer patients with emotional distress.

METHODS

A qualitative descriptive design and semi-structured interviews were used in this study. Twenty-one oncology nurses were interviewed, and the qualitative content analysis suggested by Graneheim & Lundman (2004) was used to interpret the data.

RESULTS

Six themes were identified, as follows: (1) dictating the abnormality of emotion, (2) soothing and comforting patients, (3) a lack of psychology knowledge and communication skills, (4) negative impacts of a lack of time, (5) managing emotional labor, and (6) reflecting on the experiences.

CONCLUSION

Hospital administrators should arrange pre-employment education and training as well as on-the-job education to help nurses in caring for cancer patients with emotional distress. They should also focus attention on the personal emotional states of nursing staff in a timely manner and provide psychological support and emotional counseling as necessary.

Nursing in oncology ward with intertwined roles: a focused ethnography

BACKGROUND

Characteristics of nursing care in the oncology ward depend on this ward's specific context. This study aimed to investigate the nursing care in the oncology ward regarding the culture of this ward.

METHODS

This qualitative study was conducted in an oncology ward using a focused ethnographic approach. The whole nursing team of the selected ward (N = 16) participated in the study through purposeful sampling. Three methods of observation, interview, and field documents were used for data collection. Data were analyzed by Spradley's (1980) ethnographic method.

RESULTS

'Nursing in the oncology ward with intertwined roles' emerged as the main theme. This theme included the following subthemes: 'Robin Hood nurse,' 'a secretive nurse,' 'a negligent nurse,' 'a snitching nurse,' 'a complaining nurse,' 'an apathetic senior nurse,' 'a stigmatized training nurse,' 'a brazen-bodied nurse,' 'a compassionate nurse,' 'a moonlighting nurse,' and 'a drug bartender.'

CONCLUSION

This study provided a deep cultural insight into nursing care in the oncology ward, considering the particular culture of this ward and emphasizing the nurses' intertwined roles. These roles are on a spectrum, with positive roles, such as compassion, on one side and negative roles, such as negligence, on the other. The results of this study can be provided to nursing managers; therefore, by being aware of nurses' roles considering the specific subculture of the oncology ward, they can provide psychological interventions to improve the mental health of reluctant and complaining nurses and ethics-based training for secretive, negligent, and snitching nurses to provide quality care to the patient.