CN14 - Innovative paths: A qualitative exploration of nurses' views on technology-based interventions in pediatric oncology care

Background

Although survival rates have improved, the management of pediatric cancers needs individualized treatment by a multidisciplinary team. Despite recent technological advances offering new care tools, their integration into clinical practice is still under investigation. This study aimed to explore pediatric oncology nurses' perspectives on integrating technology-based interventions into care practice.

Methods

A phenomenological qualitative study was conducted with 13 nurses. The focus groups were led by the research members, and each group included four to five participants. Nurses were asked to discuss their views of technology-based intervention, type of technology used in care, and advantages and disadvantages of technology. The data was analyzed by MAXQDA software. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research were followed for reporting.

Results

The mean age of nurses was 38.46±5.23 years, and 93.8% had more than 10 years of work experience. The three main themes and seven sub-themes were identified. These main themes included: (i) Need for competence and training for technology-based interventions with two sub-themes (nurses' lack of experience in using technology, children and families lack of experience in using technology), (ii) Effectiveness of technology-based interventions in pediatric patient care with three sub-themes (the power of technology-based interventions as distraction methods, the effectiveness of technology-based applications in the integration of the patient/patient's relative into care, contribution of technology-based applications in the discharge process and follow-up), and (iii) Challenges in integrating technology-based interventions into care with two sub-themes (risky situations, insufficiency of institutional resources).

Conclusions

This study emphasizes the importance of training pediatric oncology nurses using technology-based interventions. It demonstrates how these interventions improve patient care by providing distraction, facilitating patient and family involvement, and simplifying discharge processes. Nevertheless, challenges remain, including risks of technology use and institutional resource limitations.

Clinical trial identification

Editorial acknowledgement

Legal entity responsible for the study

The authors.

Funding

Has not received any funding.

Disclosure

All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.