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103 Exploring Communication Difficulties and Empowerment Perceptions of Paediatric Haematology-Oncology Nurses
Poster Presentations / European Journal of Oncology Nursing 16S1 (2012) S21–S46
oncology clinics of a University Hospital, who were willing to participate and had no communication difficulty. Data were collected by the researchers with a face-to-face interview using a questionnaire form and Illness Perception Questionnaire which was developed by Weinman (1996). Written consent was taken from the patients and institutional permission was obtained. Data were analyzed by chi-square, t test, one way analysis of variance and post-hoc tests. Results and Discussion: Of the patients; 28.7% had a diagnosis with leukemia, 65.2% were aware of their diagnosis, 52.2% were at the first year of their disease and 67.4%, 33.9% and 28.3% were under chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgical treatment, respectively. Patients defined that they mostly felt fatigue (89.1%), powerlessness (83.9%), weight loss (74.8%) and pain (70.4%) from the beginning of the disease and that those symptoms appeared due to the disease. Patients stated that the disease resulted from stress and anxiety (70.4%) in the sub-dimension of psychological attribution, patient’s own behaviors (47.8%) in the sub-dimension of risk factors, reduction in body resistance (73.5%) in the sub-dimension of immunity and bad luck or misfortune (77.9%) in the sub-dimension of accident or chance factor of the Illness Perception Questionnaire. Patients who lived in a nuclear family, who graduated from a college and who were 30 years old or younger could better understand their disease (p < 0.05). Patients with respiratory system cancer and who were not aware of the diagnosis thought that the disease had a circular nature and those who knew the diagnosis could better control the treatment (p < 0.05). Patients with a cancer history for 2 years and more perceived the disease as a chronic condition, who were under chemotherapy had positive beliefs on disease control (p < 0.05), who did not take surgical treatment felt that the disease followed a circular nature and felt the emotional effects of the disease much more (p < 0.05). Conclusion: It was concluded that nursing care should be planned and applied based on mostly lived symptoms such as fatigue, powerlessness and pain from the beginning of the disease while it was determined that being aware of the disease could provide a better control in treatment for the patients and that patients who were younger, who had high level of education and who lived in a nuclear family could better understand their illness. 102 Anxiety Levels of Women Who Receive Radiation Therapy for Breast Cancer S. Tasci1 , G. Guleser2 , M. Tokmakci3 , C. Eroglu4 , B. Kaplan5 . 1 Health Science Faculty, Medical Nursing Department, Kayseri, Turkey; 2 Health Science Faculty, Nursing Department, Kayseri, Turkey; 3 Engineering Faculty, Biomedical Engineering Department, Kayseri, Turkey; 4 Medicine Faculty, Radiation Oncology Department, Kayseri, Turkey; 5 Acibadem Hospital, Radiation Oncology Department, Kayseri, Turkey Introduction: Patients with breast cancer undergoing radiation treatment (RT) were reported to have anxiety before, during and after the treatment. In general, 64% of the cancer patients undergoing radiation treatment have anxiety. This experimental study was conducted to investigate the effect of radiation treatment for the first time in patients with breast cancer on anxiety level. Materials and Method: The study was performed with 27 patients with breast cancer who would go on RT for the first time in the Radiotherapy Department of Oncology Hospital as disease groups and with 27 healthy individuals as control groups. Approval by the Ethical Committee and consent from the participants were obtained. Data were collected with a questionnaire and The Inventory of State–Trait Anxiety by the researchers and by evaluating some physiological signals (pulse plethysmography – PPG, Galvanic Skin Response – GSR, and body temperature/temperature change) that were recorded into the computer. Anxiety levels were assessed for three times prior to the treatment, on the fifth day of the treatment and at the end of the treatment by scale and device in
S37
disease group. A biomedical engineer evaluated the physiological signals which were recorded into the computer. Physiologic signals obtained during every single process were analyzed in both periods of time and frequency and statistically analyzed. Wilcoxon T, Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis H tests were performed for statistical assessment. Results: Mean age of the disease group and control group were 49.3±12.0 years and 50.2±11.7 years, respectively. Of the disease group, 85.2% had graduated from an elementary school, 88.9% were married, 66.7% had a moderate income while 85.2% of the controls had graduated from an elementary school, 85.2% were married, 55.6% had a moderate income. Groups were similar in terms of demographic characteristics (p > 0.05). Mean scores of trait anxiety were 50.11±6.4 in disease group and 56.77±7.66 in control group. The pre-treatment score of state anxiety in disease group was 38.96±5.1, while fifth day of treatment and post-treatment scores were 40.00±5.07 and 41.11±4.77, respectively (p > 0.05). The baseline score of state anxiety in control group was 48.03±4.62. According to the results of physiologic measurements, mean body temperature and mean pulse rate were significant in disease group and control group (p < 0.001). Conclusion: It was determined that the level of anxiety patients increased during the treatment. Some interventions such as symptom management, emotional support, etc. may be recommended to reduce anxiety for the patients. 103 Exploring Communication Difficulties and Empowerment Perceptions of Paediatric Haematology-Oncology Nurses E. Akgun ¨ Citak1 , E. Kilicarslan Toruner2 , N. Bora3 . 1 Baskent University, Health Sciences Faculty Nursing, Ankara, Turkey; 2 Gazi University, Health Sciences Faculty Nursing, Ankara, Turkey; 3 S.B. Pediatric Hematology Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital, Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Ankara, Turkey Introduction: Communication have critical role in cancer care especially for the paediatric patients and their families. Nurses’ effective communication skills help patients and their families to achieve an optimal level of quality of life and psychological adjustment. On the other hand, communication difficulties are a major factor contributing to nurses’ stress, lack of job satisfaction and burnout. This study aimed to explore paediatric haematologyoncology nurses’ communication difficulties with patients/families and their empowerment perceptions. Material and Method: The study was conducted in a paediatric haematology-oncology hospital located in Ankara, Turkey. The qualitative data were collected by focus groups. 21 pediatric hematology-oncology nursing staff invited for semi-structured interviews as three groups. Sessions took approximately 1 hour via four open-ended questions. Inductive content analysis was used for data analysis. Results and Discussion: Results were presented in 5 main categories. First category was the communication difficulties. Nurses stated the difficulties as responding the questions, continuing the professional communication, ineffective communication and conflicts with the families. Second category was about the reasons of the difficulties. The themes of this category were reasons belong to children, parents, nurses and health team. Language problems, rejecting treatment, depressive mood and trusting problems to nurse were the subthemes of children. Perception and language problems, reaction to cancer, burnout symptoms, having negative nursing image, accusing to nurse for the changing’s of the child state and reflecting their influences from the other families were the subthemes of parents. The reasons belong to nurses were difficulties managing the reactions of the child, inadequate helping skills and job stress. The third category was about the time periods of communication difficulties. The themes were related with the stages of the illness. The fourth main category was about the effects of the
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Poster Presentations / European Journal of Oncology Nursing 16S1 (2012) S21–S46
communication difficulties on nurses. The themes were decreasing motivation, burnout, and feelings of inability, restlessness and deficiency. The last main category was related to suggestions for the empowerment for the communication difficulties with two themes related to institution and legal issues. Conclusion: Nurses need to be supported in communication and helping skills especially talking about death and dying and coping with the emotional stress. 105 A Clinical Audit on the Patients’ Experience of a Phase I Trial in a Clinical Trials Unit S. Stapleton1 , J. Hanwell1 , M. Woolven1 . 1 Royal Marsden Hospital, Drug Development Unit, London, United Kingdom Introduction: The Drug Development Unit (DDU) at the Royal Marsden Hospital runs phase I trials for patients with advanced solid tumours. The trials are complex; all vary in drug mechanism, dose scheduling and visit schedule for safety and research assessments. Phase I trials are considered to be a risk for the patients with little chance of benefit in terms of disease response. The patient in a trial makes a commitment in terms of time, potential side effects and possible effects on quality of life. The DDU has had a threefold increase in patient activity levels, the complexity of trial assessments has also increased with many patients having greater expectations placed on them. In light of this a clinical audit was performed with a focus on information giving, waiting time, patient support and referral to external services to investigate the experience of the patient being cared for on the DDU. Methods and Discussion: A respective audit using a customdesigned patient experience questionnaire was performed to achieve a sample size of 30 patients on Phase I trials at the DDU. Questionnaires were given to patients having at least one cycle of treatment. In total 40 questionnaires were given out and a total of 31 completed questionnaires were received and analysed (a 77.5% response rate). Questions focused on the following areas: • Ease of understanding of verbal and written information at initial and follow up consultations • Clinic environment – issues surrounding privacy and dignity • Patient support • Referral to community palliative care teams Results and Discussion: High levels of satisfaction were found in the information section with patients feeling benefit from the initial consultation procedure, which includes nursing input. Some issues arose surrounding difficult consultations in busy areas where there was a lack of privacy. Patient support was found to be good with the intervention of the clinical nurse specialist, however surprising results showed that only 35% of patients felt that they had been offered referral to palliative care support, even though a systematic process was in place for discussing this with patients. Conclusion: The audit gave an interesting insight into the aspects of the service that we could change if needed. Action plans were formulated with the whole team during discussion. Four issues were identified as not meeting acceptable levels of positive feedback from the patient’s point of view as follows: • Information about the amount of time to be spent at the hospital for DDU appointments. • Time between agreeing and starting a trial being too long. • Privacy and space for discussions with clinical staff. • Discussion of / referrals to palliative care. The audit will be revisited when all changes are implemented.
106 Determination of Effects of Perceived Social Support Level on the Chemotherapy Symptoms for the Women With Gynaecologic Cancer S. Yilmaz1 , G. Vural2 . 1 Dr. Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Oncology Education and Research Hospital, Gynecology, Ankara, Turkey; 2 Gazi University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ankara, Turkey Aim: Gynaecologic cancer is frequently seen in women. Chemotherapy provide long life chance to patient’s but it has a lot of side effects. These side effects have negative impact on patient’s life quality, psychology and sexuality. Patients can cope more easily with cancer and treatment of cancer with social support is provided by family, friends or health care personnel. This study was done for determining the effect of social support on chemotherapy symptoms. Materials and Methods: Research was done on patient’s who applied for the out-patient chemotherapy centre of Dr. Zekai Tahir Burak Women’s Health and Dr. Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Oncology Education and Research Hospitals. Data were collected by using a questionnaire form developed by the researcher, chemotherapy symptom assessment scale and multidimensional scale of perceived social support. 148 patients to meet the criteria of study (fourth chemotherapy cure and over, undergone surgical procedure, nonmetastatic, without communication problem and 18 years old and older and women who volunteered to participate to) composed of sample the research. MS-Excel 2003, SPSS for Win. programs for all statistical analysis and calculations were used. Results: Multidimensional scale of perceived social support midrange points was found as 49.0. It has been determined that, age of the patient, marrial status, individuals that close patient, place patient living in and precautions taken against side effects influence of the social support (p < 0.05). More common chemotherapy symptoms were ‘weakness’ and ‘heavy tiredness’ with average point of 4.8±1.3. While educational status of the patient, individuals close patient, diagnosis, having information about the chemotherapy and its side effects, having problems related to the chemotherapy taken previously have relationship with some symptoms of the chemotherapy symptom assessment scale (p < 0.05), they are not effecting the existence status of some symptoms (p > 0.05). It has been determined that there is a relationship between multidimensional scale of perceived social support and symptom of problems with skin and nails, mouth and throat, weight, insomnia, feeling worried and nervous, feeling pessimistic and upset (p < 0.05). Conclusion: It has been determined that there is a relationship between multidimensional scale of perceived social support and symptom of problems with skin and nails, mouth and throat, weight, insomnia, feeling worried and nervous, feeling pessimistic and upset. But it has been determined that there is not a relationship between multidimensional scale of perceived social support and symptom of problems with constipation, diarrhea and pain. 107 Patients’ Self Report and Their Spouses’ Perception of Quality of Life in Patients With Breast Cancer ¨ Usta Yesilbalkan1 , D. Geresinli2 , A. Karadakovan1 . 1 Ege University O. Faculty of Nursing, Internal Medicine Department, Izmir, Turkey; 2 Dokuz Eyl¨ ul University, Internal Medicine Depatment, Izmir, Turkey Purpose: The study’s aim was to compare patients’ and their spouses’ perceptions of quality of life in patients with breast cancer. Method: The study used a cross-sectional design. A convenience sample of 66 dyads, composed of patients and their spouses, completed the Nightingale Symptom Assessment Scale (N-SAS) in an out-patient chemotherapy unit. This scale is a 38-item Likert-type scale assessing physical, social and psychological area of quality of life in patients. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse demographic variables within tha sample whilst paired-sample
oncology clinics of a University Hospital, who were willing to participate and had no communication difficulty. Data were collected by the researchers with a face-to-face interview using a questionnaire form and Illness Perception Questionnaire which was developed by Weinman (1996). Written consent was taken from the patients and institutional permission was obtained. Data were analyzed by chi-square, t test, one way analysis of variance and post-hoc tests. Results and Discussion: Of the patients; 28.7% had a diagnosis with leukemia, 65.2% were aware of their diagnosis, 52.2% were at the first year of their disease and 67.4%, 33.9% and 28.3% were under chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgical treatment, respectively. Patients defined that they mostly felt fatigue (89.1%), powerlessness (83.9%), weight loss (74.8%) and pain (70.4%) from the beginning of the disease and that those symptoms appeared due to the disease. Patients stated that the disease resulted from stress and anxiety (70.4%) in the sub-dimension of psychological attribution, patient’s own behaviors (47.8%) in the sub-dimension of risk factors, reduction in body resistance (73.5%) in the sub-dimension of immunity and bad luck or misfortune (77.9%) in the sub-dimension of accident or chance factor of the Illness Perception Questionnaire. Patients who lived in a nuclear family, who graduated from a college and who were 30 years old or younger could better understand their disease (p < 0.05). Patients with respiratory system cancer and who were not aware of the diagnosis thought that the disease had a circular nature and those who knew the diagnosis could better control the treatment (p < 0.05). Patients with a cancer history for 2 years and more perceived the disease as a chronic condition, who were under chemotherapy had positive beliefs on disease control (p < 0.05), who did not take surgical treatment felt that the disease followed a circular nature and felt the emotional effects of the disease much more (p < 0.05). Conclusion: It was concluded that nursing care should be planned and applied based on mostly lived symptoms such as fatigue, powerlessness and pain from the beginning of the disease while it was determined that being aware of the disease could provide a better control in treatment for the patients and that patients who were younger, who had high level of education and who lived in a nuclear family could better understand their illness. 102 Anxiety Levels of Women Who Receive Radiation Therapy for Breast Cancer S. Tasci1 , G. Guleser2 , M. Tokmakci3 , C. Eroglu4 , B. Kaplan5 . 1 Health Science Faculty, Medical Nursing Department, Kayseri, Turkey; 2 Health Science Faculty, Nursing Department, Kayseri, Turkey; 3 Engineering Faculty, Biomedical Engineering Department, Kayseri, Turkey; 4 Medicine Faculty, Radiation Oncology Department, Kayseri, Turkey; 5 Acibadem Hospital, Radiation Oncology Department, Kayseri, Turkey Introduction: Patients with breast cancer undergoing radiation treatment (RT) were reported to have anxiety before, during and after the treatment. In general, 64% of the cancer patients undergoing radiation treatment have anxiety. This experimental study was conducted to investigate the effect of radiation treatment for the first time in patients with breast cancer on anxiety level. Materials and Method: The study was performed with 27 patients with breast cancer who would go on RT for the first time in the Radiotherapy Department of Oncology Hospital as disease groups and with 27 healthy individuals as control groups. Approval by the Ethical Committee and consent from the participants were obtained. Data were collected with a questionnaire and The Inventory of State–Trait Anxiety by the researchers and by evaluating some physiological signals (pulse plethysmography – PPG, Galvanic Skin Response – GSR, and body temperature/temperature change) that were recorded into the computer. Anxiety levels were assessed for three times prior to the treatment, on the fifth day of the treatment and at the end of the treatment by scale and device in
S37
disease group. A biomedical engineer evaluated the physiological signals which were recorded into the computer. Physiologic signals obtained during every single process were analyzed in both periods of time and frequency and statistically analyzed. Wilcoxon T, Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis H tests were performed for statistical assessment. Results: Mean age of the disease group and control group were 49.3±12.0 years and 50.2±11.7 years, respectively. Of the disease group, 85.2% had graduated from an elementary school, 88.9% were married, 66.7% had a moderate income while 85.2% of the controls had graduated from an elementary school, 85.2% were married, 55.6% had a moderate income. Groups were similar in terms of demographic characteristics (p > 0.05). Mean scores of trait anxiety were 50.11±6.4 in disease group and 56.77±7.66 in control group. The pre-treatment score of state anxiety in disease group was 38.96±5.1, while fifth day of treatment and post-treatment scores were 40.00±5.07 and 41.11±4.77, respectively (p > 0.05). The baseline score of state anxiety in control group was 48.03±4.62. According to the results of physiologic measurements, mean body temperature and mean pulse rate were significant in disease group and control group (p < 0.001). Conclusion: It was determined that the level of anxiety patients increased during the treatment. Some interventions such as symptom management, emotional support, etc. may be recommended to reduce anxiety for the patients. 103 Exploring Communication Difficulties and Empowerment Perceptions of Paediatric Haematology-Oncology Nurses E. Akgun ¨ Citak1 , E. Kilicarslan Toruner2 , N. Bora3 . 1 Baskent University, Health Sciences Faculty Nursing, Ankara, Turkey; 2 Gazi University, Health Sciences Faculty Nursing, Ankara, Turkey; 3 S.B. Pediatric Hematology Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital, Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Ankara, Turkey Introduction: Communication have critical role in cancer care especially for the paediatric patients and their families. Nurses’ effective communication skills help patients and their families to achieve an optimal level of quality of life and psychological adjustment. On the other hand, communication difficulties are a major factor contributing to nurses’ stress, lack of job satisfaction and burnout. This study aimed to explore paediatric haematologyoncology nurses’ communication difficulties with patients/families and their empowerment perceptions. Material and Method: The study was conducted in a paediatric haematology-oncology hospital located in Ankara, Turkey. The qualitative data were collected by focus groups. 21 pediatric hematology-oncology nursing staff invited for semi-structured interviews as three groups. Sessions took approximately 1 hour via four open-ended questions. Inductive content analysis was used for data analysis. Results and Discussion: Results were presented in 5 main categories. First category was the communication difficulties. Nurses stated the difficulties as responding the questions, continuing the professional communication, ineffective communication and conflicts with the families. Second category was about the reasons of the difficulties. The themes of this category were reasons belong to children, parents, nurses and health team. Language problems, rejecting treatment, depressive mood and trusting problems to nurse were the subthemes of children. Perception and language problems, reaction to cancer, burnout symptoms, having negative nursing image, accusing to nurse for the changing’s of the child state and reflecting their influences from the other families were the subthemes of parents. The reasons belong to nurses were difficulties managing the reactions of the child, inadequate helping skills and job stress. The third category was about the time periods of communication difficulties. The themes were related with the stages of the illness. The fourth main category was about the effects of the
S38
Poster Presentations / European Journal of Oncology Nursing 16S1 (2012) S21–S46
communication difficulties on nurses. The themes were decreasing motivation, burnout, and feelings of inability, restlessness and deficiency. The last main category was related to suggestions for the empowerment for the communication difficulties with two themes related to institution and legal issues. Conclusion: Nurses need to be supported in communication and helping skills especially talking about death and dying and coping with the emotional stress. 105 A Clinical Audit on the Patients’ Experience of a Phase I Trial in a Clinical Trials Unit S. Stapleton1 , J. Hanwell1 , M. Woolven1 . 1 Royal Marsden Hospital, Drug Development Unit, London, United Kingdom Introduction: The Drug Development Unit (DDU) at the Royal Marsden Hospital runs phase I trials for patients with advanced solid tumours. The trials are complex; all vary in drug mechanism, dose scheduling and visit schedule for safety and research assessments. Phase I trials are considered to be a risk for the patients with little chance of benefit in terms of disease response. The patient in a trial makes a commitment in terms of time, potential side effects and possible effects on quality of life. The DDU has had a threefold increase in patient activity levels, the complexity of trial assessments has also increased with many patients having greater expectations placed on them. In light of this a clinical audit was performed with a focus on information giving, waiting time, patient support and referral to external services to investigate the experience of the patient being cared for on the DDU. Methods and Discussion: A respective audit using a customdesigned patient experience questionnaire was performed to achieve a sample size of 30 patients on Phase I trials at the DDU. Questionnaires were given to patients having at least one cycle of treatment. In total 40 questionnaires were given out and a total of 31 completed questionnaires were received and analysed (a 77.5% response rate). Questions focused on the following areas: • Ease of understanding of verbal and written information at initial and follow up consultations • Clinic environment – issues surrounding privacy and dignity • Patient support • Referral to community palliative care teams Results and Discussion: High levels of satisfaction were found in the information section with patients feeling benefit from the initial consultation procedure, which includes nursing input. Some issues arose surrounding difficult consultations in busy areas where there was a lack of privacy. Patient support was found to be good with the intervention of the clinical nurse specialist, however surprising results showed that only 35% of patients felt that they had been offered referral to palliative care support, even though a systematic process was in place for discussing this with patients. Conclusion: The audit gave an interesting insight into the aspects of the service that we could change if needed. Action plans were formulated with the whole team during discussion. Four issues were identified as not meeting acceptable levels of positive feedback from the patient’s point of view as follows: • Information about the amount of time to be spent at the hospital for DDU appointments. • Time between agreeing and starting a trial being too long. • Privacy and space for discussions with clinical staff. • Discussion of / referrals to palliative care. The audit will be revisited when all changes are implemented.
106 Determination of Effects of Perceived Social Support Level on the Chemotherapy Symptoms for the Women With Gynaecologic Cancer S. Yilmaz1 , G. Vural2 . 1 Dr. Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Oncology Education and Research Hospital, Gynecology, Ankara, Turkey; 2 Gazi University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ankara, Turkey Aim: Gynaecologic cancer is frequently seen in women. Chemotherapy provide long life chance to patient’s but it has a lot of side effects. These side effects have negative impact on patient’s life quality, psychology and sexuality. Patients can cope more easily with cancer and treatment of cancer with social support is provided by family, friends or health care personnel. This study was done for determining the effect of social support on chemotherapy symptoms. Materials and Methods: Research was done on patient’s who applied for the out-patient chemotherapy centre of Dr. Zekai Tahir Burak Women’s Health and Dr. Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Oncology Education and Research Hospitals. Data were collected by using a questionnaire form developed by the researcher, chemotherapy symptom assessment scale and multidimensional scale of perceived social support. 148 patients to meet the criteria of study (fourth chemotherapy cure and over, undergone surgical procedure, nonmetastatic, without communication problem and 18 years old and older and women who volunteered to participate to) composed of sample the research. MS-Excel 2003, SPSS for Win. programs for all statistical analysis and calculations were used. Results: Multidimensional scale of perceived social support midrange points was found as 49.0. It has been determined that, age of the patient, marrial status, individuals that close patient, place patient living in and precautions taken against side effects influence of the social support (p < 0.05). More common chemotherapy symptoms were ‘weakness’ and ‘heavy tiredness’ with average point of 4.8±1.3. While educational status of the patient, individuals close patient, diagnosis, having information about the chemotherapy and its side effects, having problems related to the chemotherapy taken previously have relationship with some symptoms of the chemotherapy symptom assessment scale (p < 0.05), they are not effecting the existence status of some symptoms (p > 0.05). It has been determined that there is a relationship between multidimensional scale of perceived social support and symptom of problems with skin and nails, mouth and throat, weight, insomnia, feeling worried and nervous, feeling pessimistic and upset (p < 0.05). Conclusion: It has been determined that there is a relationship between multidimensional scale of perceived social support and symptom of problems with skin and nails, mouth and throat, weight, insomnia, feeling worried and nervous, feeling pessimistic and upset. But it has been determined that there is not a relationship between multidimensional scale of perceived social support and symptom of problems with constipation, diarrhea and pain. 107 Patients’ Self Report and Their Spouses’ Perception of Quality of Life in Patients With Breast Cancer ¨ Usta Yesilbalkan1 , D. Geresinli2 , A. Karadakovan1 . 1 Ege University O. Faculty of Nursing, Internal Medicine Department, Izmir, Turkey; 2 Dokuz Eyl¨ ul University, Internal Medicine Depatment, Izmir, Turkey Purpose: The study’s aim was to compare patients’ and their spouses’ perceptions of quality of life in patients with breast cancer. Method: The study used a cross-sectional design. A convenience sample of 66 dyads, composed of patients and their spouses, completed the Nightingale Symptom Assessment Scale (N-SAS) in an out-patient chemotherapy unit. This scale is a 38-item Likert-type scale assessing physical, social and psychological area of quality of life in patients. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse demographic variables within tha sample whilst paired-sample