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Experience of nursing support from the perspective of patients with cancer in mainland China
Author(s) -
Song Yongxia,
Lv Xiaoqing,
Liu Jingjing,
Huang Dan,
Hong Jingfang,
Wang Weili,
Wang Wenru
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
nursing and health sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.563
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1442-2018
pISSN - 1441-0745
DOI - 10.1111/nhs.12303
Subject(s) - nursing , perspective (graphical) , intervention (counseling) , medicine , qualitative research , mainland china , quality (philosophy) , nursing care , psychology , china , social science , artificial intelligence , sociology , computer science , law , political science , philosophy , epistemology
Abstract This study was conducted to understand patients’ experiences of nursing support, to identify gaps between patients’ expected needs and the nursing support they received, and to explore reasons for such disparity. A qualitative study with a phenomenological approach was used. A purposive sample of 22 patients with different types of cancer was recruited and interviewed using semistructured guidelines. The data were analyzed using phenomenological analytic methods. Several needs regarding nursing support were expressed, including informational, psychological, clinical, care coordination and communication needs, and there were some unmet or partially‐met needs. Reasons for the disparities covered both patient‐ and nurse‐related factors, including patients’ lack of awareness regarding how to acquire professional assistance and reluctance to express their needs, and nurses’ lack of active communication with patients, inability to provide specific support, and limited resources for coordination. The expectations of nursing support did not always correspond with the actual delivery of nursing care. A tailored intervention is warranted to meet patients’ expectations, which might contribute to quality‐of‐care improvements.