Cancer family care learning materials for Japanese general ward nurses

Abstract

Families of cancer patients are also subject to care, and early intervention is necessary. In general hospital wards, nurses have difficulty in performing satisfactory nursing care for families of cancer patients due to limited time to get involved. Their priority is to provide essential care for patients, thus it is inevitable that they cannot offer intervention for patients' families. In recent years, overtime work by nurses has been regarded as a problem, and implementation of in-service education within the working hours is recommended. Based on these backgrounds, we developed "Learning materials for nurses, with a view to standardized care for the families of cancer patients hospitalized in general wards". In this paper, we report on this learning program and the development process.