Examination of the reactions of family members who care for cancer patients and the factors affecting the care process

Objective: Examination of the reactions of family members who care for cancer patients and the factors affecting the reactıon. Method: Cross-sectional type research, February 2019-July 2019 was conducted at Dokuz Eylül University Hospital daytime treatment center with 203 family members receiving outpatient treatment and caring for cancer patients. Socio-Demographic Characteristics Form, Rotterdam Symptom Checklist, Karnofsky Performance Status Scale, Charlson Comorbidity İndex, Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale and Caregiver Reactıon Assessment Scale were used in the data collection. The data were analyzed using the correlation, independent samples t test, and the one-way ANOVA test. Findings: A statistically significant difference was found between with the all sub-dimensions of the scale and patients' age, rotterdam physical and psychological symptom score, rotterdam daily life activities score, karnofsky performance status score. At the same time there is statistically significant difference between carers' age, sex, marital status, education level, degree of closeness to the patient, working status, income level, chronic disease presence, comorbid score, perceived social support level and all sub-dimensions. Conclusions: It is the important responsibility of the nurse to identify the positive/negative experiences of the family members who care for the cancer patient and the factors that affect them and planning appropriate initiatives in this direction. Keywords: Cancer, caregiver, caregiver reaction assessment.