Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Oct;37(5):1364-1371.
doi: 10.1007/s13187-021-01964-w. Epub 2021 Jan 27.

Skills Required in the Care of Cancer Patients Who Undergo Surgery in the Hospital-Home Transition

Gloria Mabel Carrillo  1 , Mónica Liliana Mesa  2 , Daira Vanesa Burbano  3
Affiliations

Skills Required in the Care of Cancer Patients Who Undergo Surgery in the Hospital-Home Transition

Gloria Mabel Carrillo et al. J Cancer Educ. 2022 Oct.

Abstract

It is essential to recognize what care is required by patients undergoing surgery in the transition from hospital to home to provide guidance for plans for release and follow-up and to achieve patient adherence to these plans. The objective of this study is to describe the skills required for the care of cancer patients who undergo surgery after hospital discharge. An exploratory-type descriptive approach was adopted, including 290 cancer patients who underwent surgery at a reference center in Bogotá, Colombia. Hospital discharge was followed by 4 weeks of telephone follow-up to investigate the skills required for care on the basis of the CUIDAR tool. The participants had a mean age of 59.3 years, with the majority being female and having low levels of education. The most prevalent type of cancer found was breast cancer, followed by colon and rectal, prostate, stomach, cervical, lung, and ovarian cancer. The first follow-up identified needs for care in most of the CUIDAR dimensions, predominantly instrumentation, knowledge, and anticipation. The fourth follow-up, which found reduced needs, focused on knowledge of diet and eating, physical activity, the management of sadness and anxiety, a permanent telephone hotline, and sharing with loved ones. Cancer patients who underwent surgery require skills for at-home care that need to be addressed in hospital discharge programs and with structured telephone follow-up. Telephone follow-up interventions need to be consolidated in hospital release or hospital discharge programs that address these care needs.

Keywords: Cancer; Education; Patient discharge; Surgery.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Type of cancer and surgical intervention of the participants. Source: Research data (2018)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Skills required for at-home care of patients who have undergone surgery in each follow-up. Source: Research data, (2018)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization 2018. Cancer. The Lancet Global Health. 2016. 609–16
    1. Waller A, Forshaw K, Bryant J, Carey M, Boyes A, Sanson-Fisher R. Preparatory education for cancer patients undergoing surgery: a systematic review of volume and quality of research output over time. Patient Educ Couns. 2015;98:1540–1549. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2015.05.008. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Meleis A, Sawyer L, Im E, Hilfinger D, Schumacher K. Experiencing transitions: an emerging middle-range theory. Adv Nurs Sci. 2000;23:12–28. doi: 10.1097/00012272-200009000-00006. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Carrillo GM, Sánchez B, Vargas E. Development and psychometric tests of the “cuidar” instrument-short version for the assessment of the competence for home care. Salud UIS. 2016;48(22):222–231.
    1. Carrillo GM, Sánchez B, Arias EM. Validation of an instrument to assess the homecare competency of the family caregiver of a person with chronic disease. Invest Edu Enferm. 2015;33(3):449–455. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources