Experiences of Nurses in Providing Care for Patients on the Cancer Journey: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

Background: The interaction between nursing care and cancer patients is beneficial for patients' health outcomes, as they successfully manage and live with cancer. This study was conducted to assess the quality-of-care interaction between nurses and patients in oncology hospitals. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 113 cancer patients in oncology teaching hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq, from August 14th, 2023, to January 30th, 2024. The Caring Nurse-Patients Interaction-23 Scale was utilized to examine the nurse-related orientation of caring interaction between nurse and patient. It is assessed on a 5-point Likert scale and contains 23 questions pertaining to four primary domains: “humanistic care, relational care, clinical care, and comforting care." Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential data analysis. Results: The findings showed that most of the study sample were female (72.6%), unemployed (75.2%), and patients were not smokers (88.5%). Most of the patients had breast cancer (44.2%); and more than half of them were treated with chemotherapy (68.1%). The mean patients’ interaction with caring provided by oncology nurses was moderate in most domains, and the humanistic and comforting interactions were more impacted. There was a significant relationship between patients’ employment status, cancer type and type of treatment that they received (p value = 0.001), and their caring interaction with oncology nurses. Conclusion: The study concluded that the majority of the cancer patients felt a moderately caring interaction with oncology nurses. Nurses must focus on humanistic and comforting interactions with patients to build a positive caring relationship and improve patients’ health outcomes.