‘It stays with me’: the experiences of second- and third-year student nurses when caring for patients with cancer

Abstract

Little is known about student nurses experiences of nursing patients with cancer in the UK. With the increasing survival of people with cancer and with cancer no longer seen as a terminal illness it is useful to understand student nurses clinical experience when nursing those with cancer. This study takes a phenomenological approach involving three focus group interviews with twenty student nurses from the second and third year of their course in one centre in the UK. All the students had experience of caring for patients with cancer. The key themes emerging from the study were: Communication, Impact on Self, Lack of Support and End-of-Life-Care. Students emphasized the need to have more knowledge and support in relation to cancer care. They describe how they lack communication skills and found it difficult to handle their emotions. A number of students found the whole experience of caring for patients with cancer emotionally distressing and draining and they describe avoiding contact with these patients by using distancing and avoidance strategies. Student nurses need additional support through demystifying cancer, using reflective practice and good mentoring in the clinical area to enable students to feel supported, and develop confidence in their capacity for care for people with cancer.

What is important for student nurses to know about cancer treatment and care: a qualitative study of student nurses' and stakeholder perspectives

“…Findings from nursing students in the current study concurs with the work of King‐Okoye and Arber () with students from both studies acknowledging that they had been given the basic information on certain cancers and treatments. Stakeholders and students in the current study also reported having a fundamental knowledge of cancer and treatments before going on PLEs as important.…”

“…, Kav et al . , King‐Okoye & Arber , Yildiz & Akansel , Sanford et al . 2010); found it difficult to handle their emotions (Charalambous & Kaite , Kav et al .…”

“…2010); found it difficult to handle their emotions (Charalambous & Kaite , Kav et al . , King‐Okoye & Arber ); found it difficult to handle the emotions of the patients (Kav et al . , King‐Okoye & Arber ); felt generally unprepared (Coyne & Needham , King‐Okoye & Arber , Cunningham et al .…”

“…, King‐Okoye & Arber ); found it difficult to handle the emotions of the patients (Kav et al . , King‐Okoye & Arber ); felt generally unprepared (Coyne & Needham , King‐Okoye & Arber , Cunningham et al . ); felt specifically unprepared in how to be empathetic and when supporting breaking bad news (King‐Okoye & Arber ); and were deficient in some areas of knowledge (Coyne & Needham , King‐Okoye & Arber , Cunningham et al .…”

Occupational stress, survivorship issues and key themes in this issue: occupational stress, survivorship interventions, cancer in Chinese populations

“…Staff working in palliative care face particularly confronting issues and often need to develop a high degree of resilience in order to prevent emotional distress (Ablett & Jones ). In this issue King‐Okoye and Arber (; pp. 441–449) explore the experiences of student nurses in caring for cancer patients; they describe the impact of these experiences on trainees in their formative years.…”