Communicating with Patients in Cancer Care; What Areas Do Nurses Find Most Challenging?

Background: Patient communication is a cornerstone of comprehensive oncology nursing care. Oncology nurses, however, do not appear to receive much advanced training in communication skills and many nurses do not feel adequately trained in this area.

Method: We designed a 33-item questionnaire to assess nurses' perceived level of difficulty and skill in a variety of common clinical situations where patient communication was a challenge. Three hundred fifty oncology nurses in a major cancer center completed the questionnaire.

Results: Nurses rated areas where they addressed the physical complaints (pain, fatigue, appetite and weight loss) as least challenging and areas in which they were most prepared. Several items ranked as most difficult and where nurses felt they had the least skills had to do with issues related to death and dying, especially requests for euthanasia and patient loss. Advanced practice nurses rated their perceived communications skills more highly in several different areas.

Conclusion: The communication challenges faced by oncology nurses require skills that go beyond simple supportive techniques like empathy and listening. Teaching advanced communications skills geared to specific problems identified by nurses may be useful.