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Perception and fulfillment of cancer patients' nursing professional social support needs: from the health care personnel point of view

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to (1) explore the needs of cancer patients regarding common nursing professional social support from the perspective of physicians and nurses, (2) identify what type of needs clinical nurses actually fulfill and what remains to be improved, and (3) analyze the potential reasons for the gap between the identified needs and those that are fulfilled.

Methods

A qualitative approach using focus group interviews was adopted to explore the perception and provision of cancer patients' needs regarding nursing professional social support. A purposive sample of 32 health care professionals was recruited from two teaching hospitals in Anhui province, China. Five focus group interviews were conducted and all interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. A content analysis was performed with the data.

Results

The healthcare professionals perceived various nursing professional support needs of cancer patients; these include informational, emotional/psychological, and technical support needs; the mobilization of social resources; and palliative care during certain stages. The findings also indicated that there are still many unmet needs, especially needs related to the mobilization of social resources and palliative care. The reasons for the deficiencies in the fulfillment of these needs varied and included both subjective and objective aspects, such as the patients' lack of awareness of how to search for professional support, a shortage of professional staff, and the lack of a culturally appropriate assessment tool.

Conclusions

Cancer patients' supportive care needs were not always fully provided by nurses, even when these needs were identified by healthcare professionals. Nursing professional social support needs should be assessed quickly and effectively so that the appropriate interventions can be offered to cancer patients.

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Acknowledgments

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (approval number 81101750) and the Scientific and Academic Foundation for Excellent Doctoral Project in Anhui Medical University (approval number 2010XJ33) provided funds.

Conflicts of interest

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, Anhui Medical University, No.69 Mei Shan Road, Shu Shan District, Hefei, Anhui Province, People’s Republic of China

    Jingfang Hong, Yongxia Song, Jingjing Liu & Weili Wang

  2. Alice Centre for Nursing Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Level 2, Clinical Research Centre, Block MD 11,10 Medical Drive, Singapore, Singapore

    Wenru Wang

Authors
  1. Jingfang Hong
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  2. Yongxia Song
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  3. Jingjing Liu
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  4. Weili Wang
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  5. Wenru Wang
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jingfang Hong or Weili Wang.

Additional information

Jingfang Hong and Yongxia Song are co-first authors and contributed equally to this work

Appendix: Interview guide

Appendix: Interview guide

  1. 1

    As a health care personnel, what are your perceptions regarding cancer patients' common professional supportive needs from nurses?

  2. 2

    Among those identified needs, what are nurses' actual provisions to cancer patients during their hospitalization period and discharge from the hospital?

  3. 3

    What are potential reasons for the discrepancy between the identified needs and the actual provisions when providing nursing professional support to cancer patients in China?

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Hong, J., Song, Y., Liu, J. et al. Perception and fulfillment of cancer patients' nursing professional social support needs: from the health care personnel point of view. Support Care Cancer 22, 1049–1058 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-2062-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-2062-6

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