Nurses' experiences and attitudes toward diagnosis disclosure for cancer patients in China: A qualitative study.

OBJECTIVE

To qualitatively investigate and explore oncology nurses' perceptions of cancer diagnosis disclosure (CDD) for cancer patients.

METHODS

Purposive sampling led to the inclusion of 25 nurses with diverse characteristics from four inpatient oncology nursing wards in two tertiary hospitals. Semistructured, one-on-one, in-depth interviews were conducted. Colaizzi's analysis method was performed with NVivo software to develop categories and themes.

RESULTS

Four themes were identified: (a) impact of CDD, including advantages and disadvantages for patients and nurse distress; (b) barriers to CDD, including requests from family members, patients themselves, and communication skills; (c) strategies for CDD, including communication with family members, physician-nurse collaboration, and patient education; and (d) nurses' roles in CDD, including active participants and promoters and advocates.

CONCLUSIONS

More channels of information and education on cancer, cancer diagnosis, life, and death will be needed in the future. Nurses should actively participate in cancer diagnosis delivery, and more collaboration between nurses and physicians must occur.