The Impact of the Predictive Nursing Education Process on Degree of Comfort and Quality of Life for Patients in the Oncology Department

BACKGROUND: We investigated the application of a predictive nursing education process on the degree of comfort and quality of life for cancer patients. METHODS: A total of 168-cancer patient in Zhujiang Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China between June 2014 and June 2016 were enrolled and admitted for surgery or radiotherapy/chemotherapy treatment. Patients were randomly divided into control and observation groups, each containing 84 cases. Patients in the control group received routine cancer care, whereas the observation group received care incorporating a predictive nursing education process. Patients were assessed after admission and prior to discharge via the Kolcaba’s comfort status scale (through a General Comfort Questionnaire (GCQ)), quality of life scale (QOL), and Barthel Index (BI) for activities of daily living (ADL). Patient mental state was also evaluated using the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD). RESULTS: GCQ, QOL, and BI scores of the observation group were all significantly higher than those of the control group (P <0.05). HAMA and HAMD scores were significantly lower in the observation group compared to the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The predictive nursing education process could significantly improve degree of comfort and activities of daily living for cancer patients, and thus improve mental states and quality of life.