Nurses' perceptions on the role of oncology nurses in the care of children and their family

Abstract

The management of paediatric oncology clients has seen much progress over the past 20 years. Paediatric oncology nursing has evolved from an unknown specialty into an organisation of advanced nursing practice and is now recognised as a distinct subspecialty within paediatric nursing. A multi-professional approach to care has also made a contribution, as have major advances in supportive care, in which nurses have had a central role. The purpose of this study was to investigate nurses' perceptions on the role of paediatric oncology nurses in the care of children with cancer and their families. Moreover this study tackled the needs of these children and their families both in the acute and terminal phase of their illness. Factors which may facilitate or hinder this role were also addressed. A survey research design was used and a structured interview schedule was devised by the researcher as the data collection method. The interview was conducted by means of the whole population comprising of ten staff and enrolled nurses presently working on the paediatric oncology unit in Karen Grech Hospital Malta. Qualitative data was mainly collected and most of it was analysed by content analysis. Overall, findings in this study have shown that nurses' knowledge, awareness and education about this new role still require upgrading in order to meet the specific needs of the child and family. Moreover some factors which might facilitate and hinder the nurses' role were indicated. Based on these findings some recommendations were identified.