Nurses' Caring Behaviors: The Perception of Patients With Cancer at the Time of Discharge After Surgery.
Emily K Compton, Karen Gildemeyer, Tina M Mason and 2 others
PMID 29547600WHAT IT FOUND
Patients rated nurses' caring behaviors very highly, with no significant differences based on age, gender, race, surgery type, length of stay, or discharge location.
The study found no link between these factors and perceived care quality.
Key findings
01The mean score for perceived caring was 4.5 on a 1-5 scale, indicating a very positive perception.
02There were no significant associations between perceived caring scores and patient age, gender, ethnicity, surgical site, length of stay, number of nurses, or discharge disposition.
03Analysis of the lowest-scoring survey items suggested potential areas for improvement in mutual problem solving and appreciation of unique needs.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was conducted on a single surgical oncology unit that already had consistently high patient satisfaction scores, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other settings. The sample was predominantly White and non-Hispanic (65 of 73 participants), lacking diversity. The cross-sectional design captures perceptions only at discharge and cannot establish causality or track changes over time. The short length of stay on this unit may have limited the time available to develop deep caring relationships.
Declared interests
The Department of Nursing Research purchased a license to use the Caring Assessment Tool (CAT) instrument.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the lack of significant differences as evidence that these factors are irrelevant to patient care in all contexts. The study took place on a unit with already high satisfaction scores, so it may not have been sensitive enough to detect variations in care perception that would exist in lower-performing units.