A Pilot Feasibility and Acceptability Study of a Structured Nurse-Led Family Caregiver Program Among Caregivers of Hospitalized Cancer Patients

INTRODUCTION: Family caregivers of hospitalized cancer patients play a vital role in supporting patient care, but often experience considerable burden, stress, and reduced quality of life due to limited preparation and a lack of structured professional support. OBJECTIVES: To assess the feasibility and acceptability of a structured nurse-led family caregiver program and to explore preliminary trends in caregiver burden, stress, and quality of life. METHODS: A pre-experimental 1-group pretest-posttest design was used. Fifteen family caregivers of hospitalized cancer patients were recruited from a tertiary care hospital in Bangalore using purposive sampling. Standardized tools, including the Zarit Burden Interview, DASS-21 stress subscale and WHOQOL-BREF were administered before and after the intervention. The nurse-led caregiver program was delivered through face-to-face sessions during hospitalization. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. RESULTS: The intervention was feasible to deliver within routine hospital schedules, and all participants completed the study. Posttest scores showed a reduction in caregiver burden and stress levels, along with an improvement in quality-of-life scores. CONCLUSIONS: The structured nurse-led family caregiver program was feasible and acceptable in the hospital setting. The findings support conducting a larger study to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention.