The higher levels of hope in breast cancer patients compared with the general Norwegian population may reflect a response shift in patients after getting a cancer diagnosis. The fact that a significant relationship was found between total hope scores and living arrangements may indicate that hope is easier to establish when patients have someone to relate to or receive support from. Hope and total fatigue were significantly, but weakly correlated.
The purpose of the study was to determine research priorities among Norwegian nurses in cancer care, and to investigate implications that these priorities might have for future planning of nursing research. Differences between specialists in cancer nursing and other nurses working in cancer care, and between the current results and earlier findings in this area also were evaluated. Half the members of The Norwegian Society of Nurses in Cancer Care (n = 197) were mailed a questionnaire used in a similar Canadian study. The nurses were asked to select the five topics they perceived as most important from a list of 80 items, and to rank them in order of research priority. The response rate was 43% (197/464), and 75 respondents were specialists in cancer nursing. Quality of life was given the highest research priority in the total sample. Psychosocial support/counseling, communication between patient and nurse, patient participation in decision making, nurse burnout, and ethics also were ranked highly. In contrast to the others, cancer nursing specialists ranked ethics as their number one priority. Except for symptom management, the priorities given in Norway and other Western countries were found to be similar. These results might suggest topics for future research tailored to the needs of cancer nursing.
Background A large number of women with breast cancer suffer from fatigue, and social support is described as having a positive impact on health in stressful life situations. The aim of this study is to evaluate social support in a sample of early-stage breast cancer outpatients with fatigue during treatment, and to evaluate the association between cancer-related fatigue and social support and between social support and demographic and treatment characteristics. Method This cross-sectional study includes 160 outpatients with early-stage breast cancer and cancer-related fatigue. The patients were recruited from clinics at a university-based cancer centre in Norway. The research instruments included The Social Provisions Scale (SPS), which measures ‛attachment’, ‛social integration’, ‛reassurance of worth’, and ‛nurturance’, and a fatigue questionnaire (FQ), which measures total, physical and mental fatigue. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and linear regression analysis. Results Median total score for SPS was 59 (min/max = 39/64). Significant associations were found between mental fatigue and the provisions ‛reassurance of worth’ (B = − 0.34, 95% CI = [− 0.60; − 0.08]) and ‛nurturance’ (B = 0.20, 95% CI = [0.08; 0.31]). In addition, an association was found between social support and living with someone (B = 6.09, 95% CI = [4.07; 8.11]). No associations were found between physical fatigue and social support or between social support and treatment variables. Conclusions To a large extent, breast cancer patients with fatigue in this study experienced social support from their surroundings. The fact that there were significant associations between mental fatigue and two of the provisions of SPS suggests that social support is more closely related to mental fatigue than to physical fatigue. Findings from this study suggest that living with someone is important for the experience of social support during treatment for breast cancer. Clinicians need to evaluate demographic characteristics in relation to social support in early-stage breast cancer patients with fatigue.
The present study shows that nurses in cancer care mainly experience psychological issues as problems in their clinical practice, which confirms previous research. The impact of work setting, years in clinical practice and education was surprisingly small. As the majority of nurses today will meet cancer patients during their professional careers, further research is needed in this area.
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