Nurses' and patients' perceptions of individualized care in oncology clinics

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the concept of individualized care in the perspectives of oncology patients and nurses working in oncology clinics. Method: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in the Medical Oncology Clinic of Akdeniz University Hospital between August 2018 and April 2019 with 23 nurses working in the oncology clinic and 180 patients who were discharged after receiving treatment and follow-ups, and met the inclusion criteria. The data were collected using Participant Informed Consent Form, Patient Identification Form, Nurse Identification Form, Individualized Care Scale (ICS-A, ICS-B) and Individualized Care Scale-Nurse (ICS-A-Nurse, ICS-B-Nurse). Statistical analysis of data was conducted using the SAS 9.4 software package. Results: Patients' perception of individualized care was found to be above average, mean total item score of ICS-A was found 3.76 ± 0.90 and mean total item score of patients' ICS-B was found 3.72 ± 0.87 while nurses' individualized care perceptions were found high, ICS-A-Nurse was found 4.21 ± 0.50 and ICS-B-Nurse was found 4.42 ± 0.44. Decision-making subscale had the highest score for both scales in patients and nurses while it was one's quality of life had the lowest. It was also concluded that the age, education level, marital status, income group and disease characteristics of cancer patients were not effective in the perception contrary to professional time of nurses, their term of employment in the clinics and the number of patients they responsible for, and the difference was determined between their individualized care perceptions. Conclusion: Oncology inpatients' level of perception towards individualized care is known to be poor when compared to nurses responsible for their care. It is recommended to develop nursing initiatives that will contribute to improve patients' perception of individualized care. Keywords: Cancer, Individualized Care, Perception of Care, Nursing