The main reason why this research was done was to facilitate and maintain effective communication between patients who have cancers with their nurses. Effective communication is essential as it helps in improving the health results as well as the satisfaction that comes with the treatment (Arbour et al., 2022). This is because once a patient is involved in the process of decision-making and planning, it is easier to enhance their health outcomes. This research was done on 22 patients that were selected according to a purposeful sampling approach. The data was collected using a semi-structured interview in four hospitals. All of these hospitals are found in Tehran, which is the capital city of Iran, and has the most active and biggest cancer wards.
The findings of this research stated that it is evident that nurses ensure that communication between nurses and their patients is effective. The researchers have also discovered the main theme as humanitarian care (Atashzadeh-Shoorideh et al., 2021). Alongside the humanitarian care are the five categories such as patience, honesty, confidentiality, good-naturedness, and empathy. The first category was good-naturedness, where most of the participants categorized it as good-temperedness and kindness. They also believed that this category was a facilitator of effective and efficient communication between patients and their nurses. Empathy was the second category that was also obtained from the patients who participated. All five categories concluded that humanitarian care stimulates better interaction between nurses and their patients.
The topic and the research are related to the field of nursing since they show how effective communication between patients and their nurses is essential. It also shows how engaging patients in care planning and decision-making enhances their health outcomes and, most importantly, their satisfaction throughout their cancer treatment. Cancer is a severe and life-threatening disease that has a higher growth rate. Even if cancer is advanced in medicine, having better communication between the patients of cancer and nurses ensures a better health outcome (Schmitz et al., 2019). Nurses are capable of providing very supportive care for the victims. This is done by understanding and respecting patients’ needs, making sure that they are involved in their treatment process, and treating them equally.
There are various patients who are hard to deal with and might be reluctant to speak. This type of situation requires a lot of empathy and confidence among the nurses. Poor communication or lack of communication at all might lead to a difficult situation which includes a lack of access to the victim’s information, misinterpretation of their information, and lack of trust. Patients, in general, believe that nurses spend little time with them and that they are very ignorant (Alfano et al., 2019). This is the main reason why effective communication is easily notable and brings out positive results among all victims. Establishing the right channel of communication among cancer patients is compulsory as it reduces the complications they might encounter.
Cancer patients always feel that they do not have adequate information concerning their illness, thus affecting their confidence which leads to depression and anxiety. Victims who are well-informed about their disease and can communicate freely with their doctors are at a higher chance of getting better results. Communication is a very important and crucial skill that most nurses should have, and it is also very challenging (Chan et al., 2019). Better communication skill requires a lot of time, reflection, time, and continuation. This research concluded that effective communication could lead to humanitarian care.
References
Alfano, C. M., Leach, C. R., Smith, T. G., Miller, K. D., Alcaraz, K. I., Cannady, R. S.,… & Brawley, O. W. (2019). Equitably improving outcomes for cancer survivors and supporting caregivers: a blueprint for care delivery, research, education, and policy. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians, 69(1), 35-49.
Arbour, C., Tremblay, M., Ogez, D., Martineau-Lessard, C., Lavigne, G., & Rainville, P. (2022). Feasibility and acceptability of hypnosis-derived communication administered by trained nurses to improve patient well-being during outpatient chemotherapy: a pilot-controlled trial. Supportive Care in Cancer, 30(1), 765-773.
Atashzadeh-Shoorideh, F., Mohtashami, J., Farhadzadeh, M., Sanaie, N., Zadeh, E. F., Beykmirza, R., & Abdoljabari, M. (2021). Humanitarian care: Facilitator of communication between the patients with cancer and nurses. Nursing Practice Today, 8(1), 70-78.
Chan, E. A., Tsang, P. L., Ching, S. S. Y., Wong, F. Y., & Lam, W. (2019). Nurses’ perspectives on their communication with patients in busy oncology wards: A qualitative study. PloS one, 14(10), e0224178.
Schmitz, K. H., Campbell, A. M., Stuiver, M. M., Pinto, B. M., Schwartz, A. L., Morris, G. S.,… & Matthews, C. E. (2019). Exercise is medicine in oncology: engaging clinicians to help patients move through cancer. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians, 69(6), 468-484.