Identifying the Educational Needs of Parents at the Completion of Their Child’s Cancer Therapy

Abstract

For parents of children with cancer, the experience of completing treatment can be a time of celebration and hope as well as anxiety and fear. Previous research has identified the time immediately following completion of therapy as one of the most difficult and anxiety producing periods in parents’ trajectory of cancer treatment. A gap in knowledge exists to guide nursing practice regarding parents’ educational needs. The purpose of this study was to (a) determine the educational needs of parents as their children completed cancer treatment and (b) assess the feasibility of measuring parental educational needs, anxiety, and family management styles as treatment ends. The results support previous findings that parents are anxious at the end of therapy. Fear of relapse was their primary concern. Although parents desire education at the end of therapy, attention to parental readiness to learn and the individual needs of the patient and family must be considered. In the feasibility portion of this study, parents were able to complete the questionnaires with no negative feedback provided.