Objective:
Nurses who care for cancer patients are exposed to varying degrees of psychological pressure. These psychological issues among nurses are thought to have some consequences relating to professional satisfaction, quality of care, and patient outcome. This study aimed to explore the psychological and emotional impact of caring for persons among cancer care nurses.
Methods:
A qualitative, descriptive approach was employed, and a purposive sampling technique was used to select seven nurses who were interviewed one-on-one. Interview data were coded and analyzed using NVivo 12 to generate the final themes and patterns. The EQUATOR's COREQ guideline for qualitative studies was adhered to.
Results:
Data analysis yielded two major themes and four sub-themes. Participants expressed concerns about their frequent encounter with dying patients on the ward which affects their own mental well-being as persons. Sometimes, the health-care professionals used emotional distance to mitigate the emotional and psychological effects of the frequent deaths encountered on the ward. Professional dissatisfaction was also brought about by the increased amount of patients who died on the ward, the gloomy nature of the care environment, and the feeling of incapacitation to help.
Conclusions:
The findings indicate that nurses who care for cancer patients need to be supported to enhance their psychological and emotional well-being. The findings of this study could help nurse managers to understand the level of psychological pressure cancer care impose on nurses and the importance of improving the mental health of nurses in cancer care.
Bipolar disorder (BD) is an important factor contributing to rates of higher morbidity and mortality with serious consequences on the quality of life. There is limited literature on life experience of people living with BD in Chile. For this reason, this study examines the life experiences of Chilean clients with BD. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and clients aged 40-65 years, euthymic, with a preserved judgement of reality were included. A thematic analysis was conducted, and two themes and subthemes were extracted. The first theme is the life experiences of the disease, and it comprises the subtheme information about BD, life experiences of relapses (with acute experiences of disease, professional assistance, and prodromal symptom management), accepting the disease, accepting the medication, and being bipolar as a stigma. The second theme is that of family environment, which includes the subthemes of family support, lack of family support, and family crisis resulting from BD. The findings provide evidence to support the importance of accepting the disease, the long-term course of the disease, in addition to pharmacological treatment, which requires interventions from nurses when personal risk factors of acute episodes are identified and addressed. Besides, client and family members have to be actively involved. Future research should examine the relationship between stigma from bipolar disorder, perceptions from family members, and educational interventions from nurses and people affected by BD in Chile.
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