A Survey of Emotional Difficulties of Nurses who Care for Oncology Patients

Nurses who care for dying patients are under pressure emotionally because of their beliefs and values about death as well as the emotions and reactions of the patients and their families. This study examines the emotional difficulties of nurses caring for oncology patients in Turkey. The study used a descriptive survey design. The participants were 157 nurses from three medical oncology units in Ankara. Results showed that nurses had difficulty in talking to oncology patients about end-of-life issues and found that caring for dying patients affected their personal lives. This study also showed that the length of nurses' work experience had no effect on their feelings and perceptions toward terminally ill patients. However, the nurses who had more work experience were more likely to report difficulty in talking to patients. Most of the nurses expressed feelings of inadequacy and hopelessness about pain management and treatments.