Toward A Germinal Theory of Knowing- Revealing-Humanizing as Expressions of Caring in Cancer Palliative Care

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.

Dominant Worldviews, Institutional, and Contextual Factors Affecting Cancer Care: Evidence From an Institutional Ethnonursing Study in Nigeria

INTRODUCTION

Cancer remains a significant health burden in Nigeria and requires the efforts of all stakeholders to address it. Little is known about how the worldviews of Nigerian patients with cancer and other institutional factors affect cancer management in Nigeria. This paper draws evidence from an ethnonursing study conducted in a Nigerian cancer care setting.

METHOD

This study adopted a qualitative design using an ethnonursing approach. The study was conducted in one of the primary cancer treatment centers owned by the federal government of Nigeria. Data collection was conducted using participant observation, interviews, and field notes. Data collected were analyzed using NVivo 12 and presented as categories and sub-categories.

RESULTS

Analysis yielded two themes and seven sub-themes. The major themes included (1) dominant worldview and (2) institutional/contextual factors. Participants attributed life, living, and death as being controlled by a supreme being. Cancer care was constrained by unfavorable institutional factors such as lack of equipment, staffing, and intensified workload.

DISCUSSION

Cancer institutions should provide more cancer care infrastructure that will facilitate the work of nurses and other health care workers. There should be an enabling environment that would attract and retain nurses in the cancer wards. The hospital environment should be made conducive for the cancer care providers, patients with cancer, and their relatives.

Psycho-emotional recovery, the meaning of care in the process of providing palliative care to Iranian people with cancer: A grounded theory study

AIM

Despite the significance of palliative care in treating people with cancer, the provision of this type of care in Iran is vague and unorganized. This research intends to explore the meaning of care in the process of providing palliative care to Iranian people with cancer and to develop a theory that would explain the phenomenon.

DESIGN

This is a qualitative study in nature and Corbin and Strauss' Grounded Theory approach was used for data analysis.

METHODS

Data was collected through semi structured interviews that were held with 21 participants who have had experiences in receiving and providing palliative care. The study was conducted in April to December 2019 in palliative care centres of Tehran. Sampling first started purposefully and moved to theoretical once concepts began to emerge from the data. Comparative and continuous data analysis was undertaken using Corbin and Strauss' (Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory, Sage, 2015) approach.

RESULTS

Main concerns of care providers in providing palliative care was to reduce the affliction and anxiety of patients by understanding the difficult state of patient and psycho-emotional recovery was identified as the core category, which was performed via three critical strategies: building emotional connection, reinforcing positive mindset and having a core value in care.

The Troubled Nurse: A Qualitative Study of Psychoemotional Effects of Cancer Care on Nurses in A Nigerian Cancer Care Setting

Objective

Nurses who care for cancer patients are exposed to varying degrees of psychological pressure. These psychological issues among nurses are thought to have some consequences relating to professional satisfaction, quality of care, and patient outcome. This study aimed to explore the psychological and emotional impact of caring for persons among cancer care nurses.

Methods

A qualitative, descriptive approach was employed, and a purposive sampling technique was used to select seven nurses who were interviewed one-on-one. Interview data were coded and analyzed using NVivo 12 to generate the final themes and patterns. The EQUATOR's COREQ guideline for qualitative studies was adhered to.

Results

Data analysis yielded two major themes and four sub-themes. Participants expressed concerns about their frequent encounter with dying patients on the ward which affects their own mental well-being as persons. Sometimes, the health-care professionals used emotional distance to mitigate the emotional and psychological effects of the frequent deaths encountered on the ward. Professional dissatisfaction was also brought about by the increased amount of patients who died on the ward, the gloomy nature of the care environment, and the feeling of incapacitation to help.

Conclusions

The findings indicate that nurses who care for cancer patients need to be supported to enhance their psychological and emotional well-being. The findings of this study could help nurse managers to understand the level of psychological pressure cancer care impose on nurses and the importance of improving the mental health of nurses in cancer care.