3435 - Medical nurses’ experiences of the care-needs of adult patients with a primary brain tumour

Background

Adult primary malignant brain tumours are rare; however, they have a devastating impact and a poor prognosis (Ford et al., 2012). For the past seven years the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey (Quality Health, 2014) has reported the care of brain tumour patients as being less positive compared to other cancer sites, possibly due to unmet care needs. The Aims of this research were: - To explore registered medical nurses’ experiences of the care needs of adult patients with a primary brain tumour. - To identify possible gaps in knowledge and skills that limit the provision of optimal care.

Methods

The project adopted a qualitative methodological approach using semi-structured interviews to collect and analyse data to reflect the experiences of medical nurses’ in the aforementioned care context. Three participants volunteered, who met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Participants were registered nurses who had worked on the oncology/haematology Triage Unit for 12 months or more so that they had meaningful reflection.

Results

Themes emerged from the collection and analysis of data. Three main themes emphasised that the experience was: challenging; involved holistic care and depended on nurses’ knowledge and experience. Published literature identified that brain tumour patients were different to other cancer patients because they require more nursing time to address their complex care needs. The findings highlighted that senior nurses were significantly more knowledgeable, holistic and aware of patient needs.

Conclusions

Junior nurses felt they had very limited experience, confidence or knowledge to care for adult patients with a primary brain tumour. They acknowledged that education and training was essential to allow staff involved in the care of adult patients with a primary brain tumour to feel confident enough to be able to assess and care for the complex needs of this group of patients.

Clinical trial identification

Editorial acknowledgement

Legal entity responsible for the study

Birmingham City University.

Funding

Has not received any funding.

Disclosure

The author has declared no conflicts of interest.