TITLE:
Problems and Ingenuity of Nurses in Supporting Dialogue between Patients with Terminal Cancer and Their Families in the Post-COVID-19 Phase
AUTHORS:
Shiho Asano, Midori Furuse
KEYWORDS:
Dialogue, End of Life, Patients with Cancer, Family Nursing
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Nursing,
Vol.14 No.12,
December
12,
2024
ABSTRACT: Purpose: This study aimed to identify the challenges and strategies of nurses in facilitating dialogue between patients with terminal cancer and their families in the post-COVID-19 phase. Methods: An online questionnaire was administered to 839 nurses with at least two years of clinical experience. The questionnaire included items on challenges and strategies in supporting dialogue between patients with terminal cancer and their families, as well as free-response statements. All responses were subjected to inductive qualitative analysis. Results: A total of 193 responses were received and analyzed. The difficulties faced by nurses in supporting dialogue were classified into six categories: “environmental restrictions on visits and dialogue due to infection control” on the organizational side, “inability to be fully involved in dialogue support due to COVID-19,” “influence of nurses’ values regarding death and family,” “insufficient skills of nurses in supporting dialogue,” “lack of cooperation within the team,” and “differences in how the patient and family perceive the disease, hindering dialogue” on the patient and family side. Conversely, five effective strategies for dialogue support were identified: “building trust by understanding the family daily,” “facilitating dialogue between the patient and family despite visitation restrictions,” “assessing the patient and family to guide dialogue,” “encouraging the patient and family to share their thoughts,” and “improving team quality in dialogue support.” Conclusion: The findings suggest that when facing difficulties in dialogue support, a system enabling nurses to reflect on and learn from their practice is needed.