The impact of nursing care and difficulties training given to nurses on dying cancer patient on quality of care and difficulties: a randomized controlled study

Cancer is a fatal disease that is increasing in frequency and requires long-term treatment and care. Nurses frequently encounter dying cancer patients in hospitals, especially in oncology and palliative care clinics, and provide care to these patients and their families. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of the “Nursing Care and Difficulties in Cancer Patients’ Training” provided to nurses on the quality of nursing care and the difficulties experienced by nurses. The study was conducted with nurses working in hospitals with oncology and palliative care clinics in Adana between November 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022. The sample consisted of 52 nurses. Ethics committee approval, permission from the hospitals, and informed consent from the participants were obtained. Data were collected with the Nurse Introduction Form, the Nursing Care Scale for Dying Patients and Their Families and the Nurse Difficulty Scale for Dying Patients and Their Families. Analyses were performed with IBM SPSS V25 Software and R Studio. In the study, deney ve control grubundaki katılımcıların özellikleri meslekte çalışma süresi dışında benzerdi. Kovaryat olarak meslekte çalışma süresi faktörünün zamanla etkileşimi ve genel etkisi anlamsızdı (p > 0.000 ve p > 0.000). The total mean score of the nurses on the Nursing Care Scale for Dying Patients and Their Families pre-test was 42.38 ± 4.78 and the mean score on the post-test was 52 ± 3.7. There is a statistically significant difference between the total mean scores of the the Nursing Care Scale for Dying Patients and Their Families and post-test (p < 0.05). A statistically significant difference was found between the groups (ATS = 10.8, p < 0.002). The effect size (ηp²=0.181) was moderate. The total mean score on the Nurse Difficulty Scale for Dying Patients and Their Families pre-test was 31.63 ± 6.1, and the mean score on the post-test was 21.2 ± 6.2. There is a statistically significant difference between the total mean scores of the the Nurse Difficulty Scale for Dying Patients and Their Families pre- and post-test (p < 0.05). A statistically significant difference was found between the groups (WTS = 8.10, p*= 0.004). The effect size (r = 0.345) was moderate. It was determined that the “Nursing Care and Difficulties in Cancer Patients’ Training” given to the nurses increased the quality of care given by the nurses to dying cancer patients and reduced the difficulties they experienced. In line with these results; it is recommended that training be provided to improve the quality of care for dying cancer patients and to reduce the difficulties experienced in formal and nursing education. ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol Registration and Results System Receipt Release Date: September 7, 2023; ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05775926; Overall Status: Completed; Study Start: November 1, 2022; Primary Completion: January 1, 2023; Study Completion: April 1, 2023.