Nursing Students' Perspectives on Assisting Cancer Patients


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KAPUCU S., BULUT H.

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY NURSING, vol.5, no.1, pp.99-106, 2018 (ESCI) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 5 Issue: 1
  • Publication Date: 2018
  • Doi Number: 10.4103/apjon.apjon_44_17
  • Journal Name: ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY NURSING
  • Journal Indexes: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.99-106
  • Keywords: Cancer, education, nursing students, patients, EXPERIENCES, CARE, PERCEPTIONS, NURSES, TURKEY
  • Gazi University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the experiences of student nurses who have provided care to cancer patients. Methods: A mixed method approach consisting of semistructured focus groups (n = 61) and a survey questionnaire (n = 129) was used in the study. Student nurses were first interviewed, and then, a questionnaire was developed for them to answer. Following the content analysis, three themes and 19 subthemes were identified. Frequency and percent were used for qualitative data. Results: Among the student nurses, 80.6% reported that working with cancer patients was "difficult." Difficulties experienced by the student nurses included patients rejecting their care, a large number of problems cases encountered when providing care to cancer patients, communication problems (38.0%), working with patients and attendants who fear death, and problems arising from family attendants who obstruct care. The majority of students experienced patients fearing death (28.7%) and felt feelings such as pity (71.1%), sadness (50.0%), and fear of cancer (41.9%) during their internships in oncology clinics. Conclusions: Students should be supported by instructors and oncology nurses, and nursing curricula should contain topics on how to best approach cancer patients.