Nurses’ Experiences of Caring for Terminally Ill Cancer Patients in Bangkok during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Keywords:
COVID-19, Terminally Ill Cancer Patients, Nurses’ experiences, CareAbstract
This qualitative descriptive study aimed to explore nurses’ experiences of caring for terminally ill cancer patients in Bangkok during the COVID-19 pandemic. The informants consisted of four administrative nurses and 22 nurses. Data were collected using focus group interviews and individual in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Lincoln and Guba’s criteria were used to ensure trustworthiness of the findings.
The study findings were identified as five main aspects. The first aspect was that the rapid and severe COVID-19 pandemic led to COVID-19 restrictions and acute worsening of symptoms. The second one was that limitations of terminal care resulted from decreased touching and communication, living and dying alone, and having difficulties and conflicts in terminal care. The third one was adhering to the principle of palliative care such as fully assessing and responding to patients’ needs, maintaining spiritual care, and counselling system of specialist. The fourth one was establishing new services during the crisis of COVID-19 pandemic. The last aspect was that voice and feedback of related people suggested healing psychological health and improving capacity of nurses who taking care for terminally ill cancer patients, lesson learned, and using telehealth services.
Recommendations: Nurses should be improved their capacity for terminal care and supported their emotional and psychological health. Telehealth service system should also be used for optimum benefits of terminal care.
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