Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 15, 2025
Author Spotlight: Advancing Personalized Medicine in Ovarian Cancer
Published on: February 23, 2024
Perspectives of oncology nurses on peer support for patients with cancer
Riitta Kallio1, Marjaana Jones2, Ilkka Pietilä3
1Satakunta Hospital District, Pori, Finland.
Purpose:
To understand the perspectives of oncology nurses on peer support for patients with cancer and the role of oncology nurses in its provision.
Method:
Thematic semi-structured interviews of 10 oncology nurses working in a single university hospital were conducted. The data were analysed using content analysis.
Results:
Oncology nurses thought that peer support promotes the psychosocial wellbeing of patients with cancer by increasing their social contact and strengthening their emotional resources. In their daily work, oncology nurses engaged in several activities that promote the interactions between patients with cancer and informal forms of peer support. However, directing patients with cancer to formal peer support services outside specialised health care was not an established practice. Oncology nurses expressed several concerns about the availability of support and the coping ability of peer supporters and expressed scepticism about the reliability of information shared in peer support groups.
Conclusions:
The awareness of oncology nurses regarding formal peer support services appears rather limited. This knowledge gap should be reduced, such as through closer collaboration between hospitals and third sector cancer organisations, which does not appear effective at present based on the results. In addition, patients with cancer should be systematically informed about peer support.
Related Concept Videos
01:27Nursing Ethical Principles II
Consider the following scenario, which illustrates how these principles are applied in the care of Mr. John, a fifty-year-old teacher diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer.
Initially, Mr. John's...
01:27Ethical Issues
Ethical Concerns in Healthcare:
01:15Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
01:17Ethical Dilemmas I
Let us explore some examples to understand the potentially complex moral decisions nurses face.
Take the case of caring for minors, particularly in areas related to reproductive...
01:13Patient-centered Care
02:49Cancer Therapies
However, cancer treatments can pose several challenges, as therapies used to kill cancer cells are generally also toxic to normal cells. Moreover, cancer cells mutate rapidly and can develop resistance to chemical agents or radiation therapy. Besides, all types of cancer cells may not respond to the same therapy. Some cancer cells respond to one...