Mbozi Patience, Mukwato Patricia Katowa, Kalusopa Victoria Mwiinga, Simoonga Christopher
Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Chreso University, Lusaka 10101, Zambia.
Department of Basic and Clinical Sciences, School of Nursing Sciences, University of Zambia, Lusaka 10101, Zambia.
Ecancermedicalscience. 2023 Jul 13;17:1572. doi: 10.3332/ecancer.2023.1572. eCollection 2023.
The Cancer Diseases Hospital (CDH) 2019 annual report revealed an upsurge in the number of new cancer patients accessing services from 35 patients in 2006 to 3,008 in 2019. This study explored the experiences and coping strategies of women caring for their husbands with cancer attending the CDH. A phenomenological research design was used with stratified purposeful sampling. Data were collected using an interview schedule and analysed using thematic analysis. The women's challenges included mobility difficulties and hospital admissions/problems; socio-economic problems, psychological and emotional distress; and caregiving liability and spiritual anguish. The benefits that female spouses experienced during caring for their loved ones included knowledge about cancer and infection prevention, a strong marital relationship, tolerance and perseverance, resilience and hope and good relationship with other caregivers. The women's needs included financial support, physical needs, psychosocial counselling, caregiver accommodation, time off from caregiving, information needs and sexual intimacy and contact. Their coping strategies included spiritual support from spiritual carers, prayer and meditation, music and storytelling, social support and a good marital relationship. The findings demonstrate that wives of patients with cancer experience many challenges in their caring journey. Nurses must anticipate and/or intervene as part of their nursing practice to reduce the negative impact on female caretakers in this situation. Hospital standard operating procedures must be developed to put both the patients and their caregivers at the centre of oncology nursing care, particularly in settings with limited allied professional support, e.g., psychologists. Caretaker coping strategies highlighted in this study must be made available for both the patients and their wives, e.g., linking wives to trained spiritual carers upon their husband's admission to the hospital, to aid a smooth caregiving experience.
癌症医院（CDH）2019年年度报告显示，新癌症患者接受服务的人数大幅上升，从2006年的35人增至2019年的3008人。本研究探讨了在CDH照料患癌丈夫的女性的经历及应对策略。采用现象学研究设计并进行分层目的抽样。通过访谈提纲收集数据，并运用主题分析法进行分析。这些女性面临的挑战包括行动不便和住院/相关问题；社会经济问题、心理和情绪困扰；以及照料责任和精神痛苦。女性配偶在照料亲人期间获得的益处包括有关癌症和感染预防的知识、稳固的婚姻关系、宽容与毅力、恢复力与希望以及与其他照料者的良好关系。这些女性的需求包括经济支持、身体需求、心理社会咨询、照料者住宿、照料间隙、信息需求以及性亲密与接触。她们的应对策略包括来自精神照料者的精神支持、祈祷与冥想、音乐与讲故事、社会支持以及良好的婚姻关系。研究结果表明，癌症患者的妻子在照料过程中经历诸多挑战。护士必须作为护理工作的一部分进行预判和/或干预，以减少这种情况下对女性照料者的负面影响。必须制定医院标准操作程序，将患者及其照料者置于肿瘤护理的中心位置，尤其是在诸如心理学家等相关专业支持有限的环境中。本研究中突出的照料者应对策略必须提供给患者及其妻子，例如在丈夫入院时将妻子与训练有素的精神照料者联系起来，以助于实现顺利的照料体验。
