Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Nursing Ethics
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rchaidia, L.
Right arrow Articles by Gastmans, C.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Rchaidia, L.
Right arrow Articles by Gastmans, C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Reviews

Cancer Patients’ Perceptions of the Good Nurse: a Literature Review

Leila Rchaidia

Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

Bernadette Dierckx de Casterlé

Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

Liesbeth De Blaeser

Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

Chris Gastmans

Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, chris.gastmans{at}med.kuleuven.be

This article discusses findings from a mixed method literature review that investigated cancer patients’ perceptions of what constitutes a good nurse. To find pertinent articles, we conducted a systematic key word search of five journal databases (1998—2008). The application of carefully constructed inclusion criteria and critical appraisal identified 12 relevant articles. According to the patients, good nurses were shown to be characterized by specific, but inter-related, attitudes, skills and knowledge; they engage in person-to-person relationships, respect the uniqueness of patients, and provide support. Professional and trained skills as well as broad and specific nursing and non-nursing knowledge are important. The analysis revealed that these characteristics nurtured patient well-being, which manifests as optimism, trust, hope, support, confirmation, safety and comfort. Cancer patients’ perceptions of what constitutes a good nurse represent an important source of knowledge that will enable the development of more comprehensive and practice-based views on good nursing care for such patients. These perceptions help us to understand how nurses effectively make a difference in cancer patient care.

Key Words: cancer patients • characteristics • good nurse • literature review • nursing

Nursing Ethics, Vol. 16, No. 5, 528-542 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0969733009106647
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?