Cancer nursing
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The aim of this study was to examine UK district nurses' perceptions of their role in supporting palliative care cancer patients. Patients with cancer are living longer with the disease. District nurses are the largest UK workforce caring for people with cancer at home, the preferred place of care. ⋯ District nurses have great potential for meeting cancer patients' supportive and palliative care needs, a potential not currently realized. Education alone is unlikely to improve practice without an understanding of the tensions faced by district nurses in their work. Recognizing and addressing dilemmas in the everyday work of district nurses is central to moving practice forward.
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To obtain information about the knowledge and attitudes of Italian hospice nurses concerning cancer pain management and to determine the predictor of nurses' pain management knowledge. Nationwide descriptive study. Hospice nurses in Italy from 9 hospice units distributed in the north, center, and south of Italy. ⋯ Results from stepwise regression showed that nurses with higher mean correct answer scores had attended more courses on pain education. From these results, we conclude that there are still significant knowledge deficits and erroneous beliefs that may hamper treatment of hospice patients in pain. The results of this study could be useful to institutions involved in the education and application of patient pain management.
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The purpose of this study was to describe (a) the subjective feelings of fatigue of Thai Buddhist cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy (RT) and identify possible gender differences, (b) their beliefs about the main cause of fatigue, and (c) their ways of self-management for relief of fatigue. One hundred thirty-three voluntary and randomly selected patients, 55 men and 78 women, completed a questionnaire with a Thai version of the Revised Piper Fatigue Scale. After 1 week of treatment, the largest group (42.1%) of the patients had felt fatigue during the last few hours (from 1 to 5 hours). ⋯ For relief of fatigue, 5 categories of self-management emerged: (1) getting moral support from family and friends; (2) practicing religion, reciting prayers, doing merit, and meditating; (3) practicing self-care for symptomatic problems; (4) accepting the situation and doing the best of one's life; and (5) consulting with doctor and nurse. In conclusion, healthcare providers need to be concerned about RT patients' symptoms of fatigue, beliefs about causes of fatigue, and ways of self-management for relief of fatigue. They also need understanding of cultural and religious beliefs to plan holistic care.