Caregivers’ Stress and Coping with Stress from Caring for Terminally Ill Patients in a Palliative Care Unit

Authors

  • ทรงสุดา ยงพัฒนจิตร โรงเรียนพยาบาลรามาธิบดี คณะแพทยศาสตร์โรงพยาบาลรามาธิบดี มหาวิทยาลัยมหิดล
  • สุปรีดา มั่นคง Adult and Gerontological Nursing Division, Ramathibodi School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University
  • นุชนาฏ สุทธิ Adult and Gerontological Nursing Division, Ramathibodi School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University

Keywords:

caregivers of terminally ill patients, palliative care unit, stress, stress coping

Abstract

Abstract:
Objectives: To study caregivers’ levels of stress and their means of coping with stress from caring for terminally ill patients admitted to a palliative care unit.
Design: Descriptive research.
Methodology: Seventy-three family caregivers of terminally ill patients admitted to a palliative care unit of a tertiary hospital in Thailand were recruited through purposive sampling from July to November 2018. The research instruments were: 1) a demographic questionnaire; 2) a stress-measuring scale for caregivers of terminally ill patients; and 3) the Jalowiec Coping Scale (JCS). Data were collected by the researcher and analysed using descriptive statistics, including mean, percentage, and standard deviation.
Results: The family caregivers displayed a moderate average level of stress. A categoryspecifc analysis identifed the physical conditions of the terminal ill patients as the most influential cause of the caregivers’ stress, followed by the caregivers’ psychological, economic, social, and environmental conditions, respectively. To cope with stress, the caregivers used both problem focus coping and emotional focus coping. with greater emphasis on the latter.
Recommendations: The study fndings could be used as baseline data for nursing care planning to assess family caregivers’ stress and to promote their use of appropriate problem focus coping and emotional focus coping.

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Published

2020-05-07

How to Cite

1.
ยงพัฒนจิตร ท, มั่นคง ส, สุทธิ น. Caregivers’ Stress and Coping with Stress from Caring for Terminally Ill Patients in a Palliative Care Unit. J Thai Nurse midwife Counc [Internet]. 2020 May 7 [cited 2024 Mar. 29];35(2):116-31. Available from: https://he02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/TJONC/article/view/228669

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Research Articles