Perceived Quality of Nursing Care Among Cancer Patients Attending Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital Cancer Treatment Center; Hawassa Southern Ethiopia: Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Cancer has become one of the most common and the second leading cause of death. According to grounded theory, quality care is meeting all the needs of the patients. Low-quality nursing care relates omission of nursing care required to meet patients' need. Quality of nursing care in oncologic setting was nursing practice area where studies are limited. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess the perceived quality of nursing care among patients with cancer attending Hawassa University comprehensive specialized Hospital. METHODS: A quantitative Cross-sectional study was conducted. Among the proposed 422 patients with cancer, using a simple random sampling technique 415 patients were included in this study. Seven data were discarded due to incompleteness and inconsistency between collected data and patient medical record. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and Quality of Oncology Nursing Care Scale. We carried out statistical analysis using SPSS V-20. We used descriptive analysis to examine the quality of oncology nursing care. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 42.51 (±14.24) years, among patients diagnosed with cancer more than one-third 148 (35.70%) had breast cancer. The majority of patients with cancer 173 (41.70%) were in stage-III. Nearly two-third 266 (64.10%) of patients were on chemotherapy. Among study participants on treatment, 249 (60.00%) perceived they received good quality of nursing care. The mean score related to the domain of support and confirmation is 62.73 ± 7.26. In terms of spiritual care, the mean score is 21.03 ± 5.37. CONCLUSION: The perceived quality of nursing care was high however not all domains of oncology care were achieved. We recommend Detail and focused study to explore important predictors’ quality nursing care.