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Communication culture in cancer nursing care: an ethnographic study

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to explore the communication culture in nursing care of patients with cancer.

Methods

This ethnographic study was conducted in 2018–2019. Data were collected through participatory observation (318 h of observing nurses, patients, and family behaviors), semi-structured interviews (8 interviews with nurses), and informal interactions. Data were analyzed using Spradley’s framework.

Results

The study results in five cultural components of “communication determinants,” “experimental acquisition of communication skills,” “gradual empathetic communication,” “avoidant communication with patient,” and “communication with family as caregiver.” “Communication between nurse, patient and family is an experimental, gradual and avoidant relationship” was the study’s cultural statement.

Conclusion

In this study, the nurse-patient communication was influenced by factors related to the patient, the nurse and the care environment, and nurses acquired communication skills experimentally. There were two patterns of empathetic and avoidant communication between the nurse and the patient. For having high-quality care, nurses’ behavioral patterns must be improved and changed in some cases. Nursing professors, managers, and nurses can use these results in training, hiring, orienting novice nurses, and empowering oncology nurses. Training communication skills to nurses and changing managers and nurses’ approach to move from task-oriented care to holistic care help improve nurses’ communication patterns.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Code availability

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Funding

The research leading to these results received funding from the vice chancellor for Research and Technology of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences under Grant Agreement No.398240 (This study was conducted as a part of the Ph.D. Dissertation).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Student Research Center, school of Nursing & Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Saba Farzi

  2. Nursing & Midwifery Care Research Center, School of Nursing & Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Fariba Taleghani & Ahmadreza Yazdannik

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Cancer Prevention Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Mehran Sharifi Esfahani

Authors
  1. Saba Farzi
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  2. Fariba Taleghani
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  3. Ahmadreza Yazdannik
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  4. Mehran Sharifi Esfahani
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Contributions

Conception and design: all authors, acquisition of data: S.F.; interpreting and analyzing data: S.F., F.T., A.Y., and M.SH.; writing original draft of article: S.F. and F.T.; review and final approval of the article: all authors.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fariba Taleghani.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval

The Ethics Committee of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran, approved this study (IR.MUI.RESEARCH.REC.1398.161).

Consent to participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. The identities of the participants were kept confidential in the recording and presentation of the study results.

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N/A

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Farzi, S., Taleghani, F., Yazdannik, A. et al. Communication culture in cancer nursing care: an ethnographic study. Support Care Cancer 30, 615–623 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-021-06388-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-021-06388-2

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