TITLE:
Nursing Care in Patient with Advanced Cancer: The Experience of the Adult Oncology Unit of Lomé
AUTHORS:
Ablavi Adani-Ifè, Mathias Ayivi, Gisèle Agbanouvi, Kouéssan Edoh, Tibéname Kombaté, Mohaman Djibril
KEYWORDS:
Nursing Care, Cancer Patient, Oncology, Togo
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Cancer Therapy,
Vol.14 No.7,
July
7,
2023
ABSTRACT: Background: Cancer patients suffer physical, psychological,
spiritual, and social pains, especially in the advanced stage. Nurses spend
more time with patients than any other healthcare team member. This study aimed
to assess nurses’ behavior and care experiences in patients with advanced
cancer and explore patients’ perceptions of nursing care. Methods: A
cross-sectional study was conducted with eight nurses and thirty patients with
advanced cancer hospitalized in the oncology unit at Sylvanus Olympio Teaching
Hospital of Lomé from July to August 2020. Results: The mean age of
nurses was 34.3 years ranging from 23 to 48 years. There were five men (62.5%)
and three women (37.5%). The mean duration of working in oncology nursing of
all was less than two years. Only one nurse has training in palliative care.
Stress (100%), sadness (100%), and fear (50%) were the most frequently
expressed feeling of nurses. The frequently expressed difficulties were the
lack of training in palliative care (87.5%), insufficiency of nursing staff
(75%), and helplessness in front of the patient’s distress (75%). Among the
thirty patients, were 22 women (72.7%) and 8 men (27.3%). The needs expressed
by the patients were psychological support (n = 11; 36.7%), pain relief (n =
10; 33.3%), and moral support (n = 9; 30%). Most of the patients (73.3%)
affirmed that nurses did not inform them well about their disease. Three (10%)
were very satisfied with the care provided, 23 patients (76.7%) were satisfied
and 4 (13.3%) were unsatisfied. Conclusion: This study revealed that
nursing care in Togolese patients with cancer faces many difficulties and there
is a need for providing specialized oncology nursing.