Clinical Nurses' Perceived or Experienced Obstacles and Supportive Behaviors in Providing Care for Terminally Ill Cancer Patients

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine obstacles and supportive behaviors perceived or experienced by clinical nurses providing care for terminally ill cancer patients. METHODS: Beckstrand's survey questionnaire was translated into Korean and verified by an expert committee and through a preliminary study. A survey that used 26 questionnaire items on obstacles and 24 on supportive behaviors, was conducted among 228 registered nurses with more than one year of experience at medical-surgical general wards in a hospital. RESULTS: The highly-perceived and frequently-experienced obstacles in providing care for terminally-ill cancer patients were related to patients' uncontrollable pain or psychologically unstable family members. The highly-perceived and frequently-experienced supportive behaviors were related to caring family members or having supportive family members. However, nurses' perceptions or experiences of multiple obstacles and supportive behaviors differed by hospital type, career length, and department. CONCLUSION: Nurses seem to be in need of training for pain management for terminal cancer patients and of family care in general. Highlyperceived and highly-experienced obstacles or highly-perceived but rarely-experienced supportive behaviors should be intervened without delay considering a hospital type or nurses' career length.