Congress Abstracts 2004

37

WIVES OF MEN WITH PROSTATE CANCER: EXAMINING INFORMATION NEEDS. Tina Mason, RN, MSN, AOCN^®, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL.

Nurses play a key role in patient/family education. To afford the best possible care, nurses need to accurately assess and meet information needs.

The literature supports that the information needs of family members of patients with cancer are frequently overlooked by healthcare providers. Family members also report consistently about difficulty obtaining information. Shortened hospitalizations and clinic appointments evolved with managed care. The purpose of this abstract is to report findings of a study aimed to identify and measure perceived information needs of wives of men diagnosed with prostate cancer who have undergone brachytherapy. Ultimately, this information will lead to improved education.

Family systems theory provides the conceptual framework. Dynamics of family development affects clinical decision-making and adjustment to illness. Each family member’s response can affect responses of the other members. Understanding information needs of family members can assist nurses in healthcare teaching and diagnosing.

Convenient sample of wives were obtained on the day of brachytherapy. Consent and demographic data was collected. The 30-item Family Inventory of Needs-Wives (modified version of Family Inventory of Needs-Husbands) instrument was utilized.

Sixty-five wives (mean age of 60.8 years) participated. Mean age of patients was 64.8 years and stage II prostate cancer was most commonly reported (96.9%). Subjects ranked needs on Likert-type scale (1 = not important to 5 = extremely important). All needs were rated important (range 2.85–4.95). The degree of being met, being partly met, or unmet varied. Only “be assured that best possible care is being given” was never ranked as unmet. The highest rated unmet needs were “know what to expect of husband’s energies” (33.9%), “know how to touch husband” (32.2%), “have someone be concerned about my health” (33.3%), and “be told about people who could help with problems (i.e., financial, household)” (35.7%). Education and age of wife did not influence percentage of unmet needs (P = 0.18 and 0.47, respectively).

With less opportunity to educate, a challenge exists for nurses to appropriately tailor effective and desired family education. Therefore, an adequate description of family needs is required to contribute to improved care. Data from this study will be used to help nurses prioritize care and guide the development and revision of educational material.