The family and nurse in partnership : providing day-to-day care for rural cancer patients

Objective: To explore demands made on family members in managing symptoms and providing for the day-to-day care of relatives with cancer in rural New South Wales and how specialist palliative care nurses support these family members. Design: Cross sectional qualitative study. Setting: Seven health centres across rural New South Wales that cover a broad geographical area and reflect the diversity in economic conditions, population density and distance from three major urban centres in New South Wales. Subjects: The study involved two groups of participants. The first group consisted of one or more members of families of oncology patients who were accessed through health workers at the seven centres. Nineteen family members from 17 families were interviewed. The second group comprised 10 nursing staff working as specialist palliative care nurses across the same geographical area as the families. Main outcome measures: Physical care and symptom management were the two main areas of interest. Results: The rural experience of caring for palliative care patients was challenging, with support nurses needing to take into consideration all aspects of the patients’ and families’ living environments. Conclusion: There is a need for equipment and basic resources to be readily available to practitioners, funding for ongoing education and 24-h care.