Exploration of a self-protective strategy in pediatric oncology staff

Oncology care is considered a stressful occupation. Little is known about the coping strategies oncology staff members use to deal with the stress of their work. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a self-protective strategy found in parents of children with cancer is also present in pediatric oncology staff. To explore this assumption, staff members' ratings were compared with the parents' ratings on the need for support and with the children's ratings on experienced pain. We also explored the characteristics which staff members attribute to the children and the parents. A total of 76 staff members, 84 children with cancer, and their 163 parents participated in the study. Both gender and number of years working in oncology care were positively associated with increased self-protective reactions in staff members. Male staff members rated medical procedures and the pain children experience in general as less painful than did female staff members. Their judgements about experienced pain in general and the lumbar puncture procedure in particular tended to be lower than the children's ratings. Female staff members attributed more positive characteristics to children with cancer and their parents than did male staff members. Staff members with more years of experience in oncology tended to rate all three medical procedures as less painful than those with less years of experience, and they also attributed more positive characteristics to the children. Staff members should be observant to their perceptions of children and parents, especially if their experience increases.