Impact of Perioperative Empathic Care on Postoperative Psychological Status in Patients with Cervical Cancer

To evaluate the effectiveness of perioperative empathic care for patients with cervical cancer and its impact on their postoperative recovery and psychological well-being.

A total of 196 patients diagnosed with cervical cancer and treated at our hospital between December 2019 and January 2021 were recruited and assigned via random number table method to receive either conventional nursing care (conventional group) or empathic care (experimental group), with 98 cases in each group. The inclusion criteria for cervical cancer patients were FIGO stage I-III, aged 18-65 years, and no prior cancer treatment. The empathic care provided to the experimental group involved enhanced communication, emotional support, and shared decision-making. Outcome measures included postoperative recovery indices, numeric rating scale (NRS) scores, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) scores, Hamilton depression scale (HAMD) scores, and Strategies Used by People to Promote Health (SUPPH) scores.

Independent t tests were used to analyze the differences in postoperative recovery indices between the two groups. Patients in the experimental group who received empathic care had significantly shorter mean time to passing gas (2.35 ± 0.61 days vs. 3.41 ± 0.56 days, P < .05), shorter mean time to postoperative defecation (3.28 ± 0.71 days vs. 4.75 ± 0.63 days, P < .05), and shorter mean length of hospital stay (7.18 ± 1.04 days vs. 11.52 ± 1.25 days, P < .05) compared to the conventional group.Before the nursing intervention, there were no significant differences between the two groups in NRS scores, PSQI scores, SAS scores, HAMD scores, and SUPPH scores (all P > .05). After the nursing intervention, ANOVA was used to analyze the differences. Patients in the experimental group had lower mean NRS scores (2.96 ± 0.84 vs. 4.36 ± 1.02, P < .05), lower mean PSQI scores (8.45 ± 1.11 vs. 12.15 ± 1.52, P < .05), lower mean SAS scores (33.08 ± 3.35 vs. 47.65 ± 4.32, P < .05), and lower mean HAMD scores (30.44 ± 3.37 vs. 41.82 ± 4.05, P < .05) compared to the conventional group.

This study demonstrates that perioperative empathic care can significantly improve postoperative recovery and psychological well-being in patients with cervical cancer. Patients receiving empathic care exhibited faster return of gastrointestinal function, shorter hospital stays, and better outcomes on measures of pain, sleep quality, anxiety, and depression. These findings suggest that incorporating empathic care into standard oncology nursing practice could have a positive impact on patient experience and clinical outcomes. Beyond the benefits for individual patients, widespread adoption of empathic care approaches has the potential to enhance the overall quality of cancer care, improve resource utilization, and contribute to more holistic, patient-centered models of healthcare delivery. Further research is warranted to evaluate the long-term effects of empathic care and its applicability across diverse oncology populations.