published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

This thesis focuses on the cultural construction of cancer experience in a modern clinical context. A French Canadian center, specializing in cancer treatment, was the main source of information for this study. Facts obtained from this setting served for the analysis. The first step in the proposed method, consisted of an ethnographic description of the clinical milieu observed. Next, five additional steps in the analysis indicated the principal elements of this cultural encounter with cancer. These steps included: (1) An analysis of the staff exchange; (2) An analysis of the patient's exchange; (3) An analysis of the documents on Terry Fox and Johnny Rougeau, heroic victims of cancer; (4) An exploration of the patients' lay knowledge on cancer; (5) A life story of a cancerous patient where by the dialectic trends between exchange, knowledge and experience are analysed. / The resultant three hypotheses deal with the emergence of a new exchange on cancer with an emphasis on hope and god morale, the homology of cancer exchanges in the clinical and social spheres, and finally concerning the nature of the layman's knowledge on cancer as making sense out of a troubling experience of liminality and alienation as well as the more open and dynamic character of the layperson's knowledge of cancer.

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Thesis (M. (Nursing)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Caring for terminally ill cancer patients is considered stressful and heartbreaking. Oncology nurses often consider leaving the nursing profession because of the high levels of stress experienced by these health care professionals. The aim of this study was to investigate the experiences and the practices of nurses who care for terminally ill cancer patients in the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital in the Capricorn District of the Limpopo Province. The objectives of this study were to explore and describe the experiences and practices of nurses who care for terminally ill cancer patients and further to describe the relationship between certain demographic variables and nurses’ experiences of death. An additional objective was to develop recommendations and strategies that might assist management of the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital with the development of appropriate skills and the implementation of emotional support that could assist nurses who care for dying cancer patients in the oncology wards. The study followed a phenomenological, descriptive, exploratory and contextual research design, which assisted the researcher to describe and explore the experience and practices of nurses caring for terminally ill cancer patients. Semi-structured interview method was used to collect data, making use of an interview guide, was used because it is a more free-flowing approach, with its structure being limited only by focusing on the research. Field notes were captured during the data collection session by the researcher. A voice recorder was used to capture all the interview sessions. The initial data analysis started with the researcher listening to the recordings and transcribing verbatim all statements made by the participants. Tesch’s open coding data analysis method was used by following the proposed eight steps to analyse qualitative data as outlined in Creswell (2013). Ethical standards as set in Babbie (2013) were adhered to by the researcher. The researcher requested permission to conduct the study from the Limpopo Department of Health Ethics Research Committee and informed consent was obtained from the participants before collecting data. Privacy of the participants was ensured as participants were never called by their names. In the study participants shared different views with respect to caring for dying cancer patients. Some participants regarded caring for cancer patients as stressful and heartbreaking. Other oncology nurses blamed the management for not providing them with courses to assist them with caring for dying cancer patient, nor providing debriefing sessions for them. On the other hand, some oncology nurses believed that relocating to other wards was a better solution. The participants suggested the following improvements for caring for dying cancer patients; oncology nurses should be offered short courses to assist them with the challenges that they come across with regard to caring for dying cancer patients. Oncology nurses need support from the management and colleagues in order to cope with the workload. Oncology nurses need psychological assistance to help them with the psychological stressors they experience. Family members and patients need health education on how to deal anticipatory grief. / University of Limpopo

Family-centered care (FCC) is important within the practice of pediatric oncology nurses. Such nurses face challenges and barriers when attempting to provide FCC. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of pediatric oncology nurses in relation to FCC; identify how pediatric oncology nurses implemented FCC into their practice; identify what facilitated and enabled pediatric oncology nurses to implement FCC; and discern the barriers and challenges that were present in their setting when implementing FCC. A qualitative approach utilizing person-centered interviewing was used to collect data. Nurses (N=20) from the Alberta Children‟s Hospital were recruited through purposeful convenience sampling and were then interviewed. Five major themes were identified from the data set: ACH support f FCC, How participants defined FCC, Establishing FCC, Enhancing FCC, and Barriers and Challenges to providing FCC. Recommendations for future research and implications for practice and education are offered. / xii, 191 leaves ; 29 cm

Doctorat en sciences sociales, politiques et économiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished