Themes and trends in nursing research on cancer patients' families

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify trends in nursing research on cancer patients' families published within the past 12 years (1996-September 2007, present) and examine their research themes. Five core categories were identified: 1) cancer nursing at home, 2) terminal care in a general ward, 3) family's experience in a terminal period and after bereavement, 4) family's experience and care during treatment, and 5) family systems. Findings showed that the following areas of research are being conducted: nursing research on a variety of therapies and care environments, research on nurses' awareness of the families of cancer patients and how this affects treatment, interventional research on how to implement study findings, and research activities based on family nursing.