The Level of Psychosocial Skills of Nurses Caring for Cancer Patients and Affecting Factors: Results of a Multicenter Study

Abstract

Caring for cancer patients requires both technical and psychosocial nursing skills. The aim of this study was to determine the psychosocial care skill levels of nurses and affecting factors. This multicenter, cross-sectional study was conducted with 1,189 nurses providing direct care to adult cancer patients in 32 hospitals in 12 geographical regions of Turkey. A questionnaire, the Psychosocial Skills Form, and the Professional Quality of Life Scale were used to collect the data. Nurses' psychosocial skill level was in the range of 2.72 +/- 0.98 and 2.47 +/- 0.89 out of four points. Communication skills such as empathic response, active listening, and the ability to provide information were found to be at a higher level than skills such as the activation of social support systems, therapeutic touch, and development of coping methods. Approximately 40% of nurses had received psychosocial care training, and 87% were interested in receiving additional psychosocial training. Gender, educational status, previous training in psychosocial care, and work experience with cancer patients were shown to affect psychosocial skill levels. There was a positive relationship between the level of psychosocial skills and the level of compassion satisfaction, and a negative relationship between the level of psychosocial skills and the level of burnout and compassion fatigue (p < 0.05). Nurses perceive themselves as having a medium to high level of psychosocial skills yet desire additional training. The results of this study may contribute to the development of training programs according to the needs of nurses who care for cancer patients.