Palliative Care as the Driving Force for Providing Psychological Comfort to Patients with Cancer: A Hermeneutic Study

Abstract

Background: Palliative care is an important part of effective cancer care Objectives: The purpose of our study was to explore the lived experiences of nurses providing psychological palliative care for cancer patients in Iran. Methods: A hermeneutic phenomenological study was performed. We interviewed 11 oncology nurses to understand their lived experiences in cancer wards about psychological palliative care. We employed a seven-stage process of data analysis. Results: One constitutive pattern ‘palliative care as the driving force for providing psychological comfort to patients with cancer’ and three associated themes, namely ‘stress management’, ‘empathetic behavior’, and ‘all-embracing outlook’, were identified. Conclusions: The findings present better understanding of the lived experiences of oncology nurses in Iran regarding the phenomena under study.