Shenzhen University, China.
Nurs Ethics. 2019 Nov-Dec;26(7-8):1968-1975. doi: 10.1177/0969733018809805. Epub 2018 Nov 14.
Although family caregivers play an important role in end-of-life care decisions, few studies have examined the communication between family caregivers and patients at the end of life.
The objective was to describe family caregivers' attitudes toward death, hospice, and truth disclosure.
A quantitative method was used, and a closed-ended survey of 140 family caregivers was conducted in China. The subjects included 140 primary family caregivers of elders with terminal cancer enrolled at a hospice center from April to August 2017.
140 primary family caregivers of elders with terminal cancer participated the study.
A high proportion of cancer patients continue to receive inadequate information about their illness. Family caregivers' inhibitions about disclosing information to cancer patients have not yet been the objects of research in China.
This study was reported to and approved by the Regional Ethics Committee in Shenzhen, China.
A questionnaire survey collected information on family caregivers' background information, emotional state, personal needs, death attitudes, and truth-disclosure opinions. The results revealed that family caregivers' death attitudes and truth-disclosure opinions played an important role in the process of caring for elders with terminal cancer.
By adopting a quantitative method, the author revealed not only the general patterns of family caregivers' attitudes toward cancer diagnosis disclosure but also the reasons for their actions and the practices of family disclosure.
The findings suggested that ineffective communication concerning end-of-life issues resulted from family caregivers' lack of discussion and difficulty in hearing the news. Future studies should examine strategies for optimal communication between family caregivers and patients, especially with regard to breaking the bad news. Professional training in breaking bad news is important and is associated with self-reported truth-disclosure practices among family caregivers.
尽管家庭护理人员在临终关怀决策中发挥着重要作用，但很少有研究探讨家庭护理人员与临终患者之间的沟通。
描述家庭护理人员对死亡、临终关怀和真相披露的态度。
采用定量方法，对 2017 年 4 月至 8 月在中国一家临终关怀中心的 140 名晚期癌症患者的主要家庭护理人员进行了封闭式调查。
140 名晚期癌症患者的主要家庭护理人员参与了这项研究。
相当一部分癌症患者继续接受不充分的疾病信息。家庭护理人员对向癌症患者披露信息的抑制作用尚未成为中国研究的对象。
本研究向中国深圳地区伦理委员会报告并获得批准。
问卷调查收集了家庭护理人员背景信息、情绪状态、个人需求、死亡态度和真相披露意见的信息。结果表明，家庭护理人员的死亡态度和真相披露意见在照顾晚期癌症患者的过程中起着重要作用。
通过采用定量方法，作者不仅揭示了家庭护理人员对癌症诊断披露态度的一般模式，还揭示了他们行动的原因和家庭披露的做法。
研究结果表明，由于家庭护理人员缺乏讨论和难以听到消息，导致临终问题沟通无效。未来的研究应探讨家庭护理人员和患者之间最佳沟通的策略，特别是在打破坏消息方面。打破坏消息的专业培训很重要，并与家庭护理人员自我报告的真相披露实践相关。
