Development of nursing care model for elderly patients with breast cancer undergoing radiotherapy, Lampang Cancer Hospital

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a nursing model for elderly breast cancer patient with radiotherapy at Lampang Cancer Hospital. This research and development were performed in four phases: 1) the situation study phase by review medical record, in-depth interviews  nurses, 2) the model development phase, 3) the model initiation and implementation phase, and 4) the model's outcomes evaluation. The study participants were assessed on 90 elderly breast cancer patients with radiotherapy selected. The patients were divided into two groups, one receiving standard care and the other treated with the researcher-designed nursing care model. Nursing practice assessment form a questionnaire for assessing the satisfaction of nurses with the model. The data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, exact probability test and t-test. Development of the nursing model for elderly breast cancer patients with radiotherapy was analysis with multivariable logistic regression and the qualitative analysis used content analysis. The results of the research showed that 1) The designed nursing model for elderly breast cancer patient with radiotherapy was composed of three components: 1) The practice of nursing patients Care guidelines and the preparation of personnel to take care of patients 2) nursing knowledge development 3) monitoring and follow-ups. The research of the model implementation outcomes showed the following. 1) Using multivariable logistic regression adjusted address and underlying the patients treated with the researcher-designed nursing care model significantly less complications (acute, OR radiation 0.16 95%CI 0.03, 0.90, p-value 0.039 and late radiation OR 0.23 95%CI 0.08, 0.66, p<0.006). 2) The registered nurses displayed statistic significantly higher knowledge and satisfaction concerning the model than before the implementation (p< 0.001, <0.001). 3) The patients treated with the researcher-designed nursing care model displayed significantly higher satisfaction with the care quality than after the patients given standard care (p<0.001).