The purpose of this study is to clarify doctors' difficulty and what is required for nurses associated with delivering bad news to patients.
A study was conducted for 24 doctors of Hospital A based on semi-structured interview. As a result, four categories, "enhance understanding of medical condition by patients and family", "confront one's own heartache", "face with patients and family to make decision" and "understand individuality of patients", have been extracted as difficulties for doctors associated with delivery of bad news regarding medical condition and treatment of cancers. On the other hand, five categories, "To share thoughts and appearance of patients", "To listen to true intention of patients", "To mentally support patients and their families", "To be a person familiar with patients" and "To observe patients behavior", have been extracted as what is required for nurses. From the discussion, it has been suggested that doctors and nurses were unsuccessful in supporting decision-making as a team in spite of demand of such support to them. Participation in Advance Care Planning training will help doctors and nurses as a team to support decision-making smoothly.
