Self-assessment of Implementation of Discharge Support for Terminal Cancer Patients and Related Factors by Ward Nurses

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to clarify self-assessment of implementation of discharge support for terminal cancer patients and related factors by ward nurses.

Methods: We conducted an anonymous self-administered questionnaire survey of 473 ward nurses of a cancer care district liaison hospital A. The survey contents were self-assessment of attributes and implementation of discharge support.

Results: Responses from 153 nurses who had experiences of implementation of discharge support for terminal cancer patients were analyzed. The items with high self-assessment of implementation of discharge support were information gathering from patients and their families and confirmation of desired care places with families, and those with low self-assessment were use of social resources and confirmation of the understanding of life-expectancy with the patients. Factors related to the self-assessment of implementation of discharge support by ward nurses included their sense of weakness in supporting discharge, experience of leading terminal cancer patients to be discharged at home, experience of receiving information about events after care at home, and presence or absence of knowledge about discharge support.

Discussion: Creation of a system through which ward nurses can receive information of discharged patients, measures to improve their sense of weakness, and the necessity for chances for them to learn discharge support were suggested to be useful for supporting ward nurses.