Premium
Comparison of the symptoms reported by post‐operative patients with cancer and nurses’ perception of patient symptoms
Author(s) -
Guner C.K.,
Akin S.,
Durna Z.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
european journal of cancer care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1365-2354
pISSN - 0961-5423
DOI - 10.1111/ecc.12144
Subject(s) - medicine , intensive care unit , palliative care , mechanical ventilation , turkish , cancer , physical therapy , intensive care medicine , nursing , linguistics , philosophy
The purpose of this study was to compare the symptoms reported by patients with cancer after palliative surgery and mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit ( ICU ) with their primary nurses’ perception of the symptoms. The study adopted a descriptive and correlational study design. The sample comprised 60 T urkish patients with cancer who had been mechanically ventilated for 1–12 h at the ICU following palliative surgery. In addition to the patients’ reports, the nurses (= 8) independently rated their own perceptions of the patients’ symptoms. Data were collected using the E dmonton S ymptom A ssessment S cale ( ESAS ). The mean age of the sample was 62.28 years ( SD = 15.02; range: 27–86). The mean score of the patients on the ESAS was 55.17 ( SD = 26.16) and that of the nurses was 55.48 ( SD = 27.13). The study found no statistically significant differences between scores of patients’ reports and nurses’ assessments of symptoms, except for the category of pain. Patients reported more pain than the nurses’ perceived ( Z = −2.311, P = 0.021). Systematic and frequent symptom assessments of patients in ICU s after palliative surgical operations should be an integral part of nursing care.