Exploring the experiences of patients and nurses in using Mindfulness for the management of cancerrelated fatigue in gynaecological cancers

Abstract

This research proposal seeks to explore the experiences of patients and nurses in using Mindfulness for the management of cancer-related fatigue (CRF) in gynaecological cancers. A review of current literature investigated different Mindfulness practices and methods of delivering these to patients with cancer for symptom management, establishing how patients and nurses perceive Mindfulness and when is considered an appropriate time to introduce this. It was determined that Mindfulness is an acceptable and feasible symptom management strategy, particularly in the management of CRF. Studies showed that improvements instigated by Mindfulness impacted how patients associated their symptoms, commonly improving the way this was perceived rather than improving actual symptom incidence. This study proposes carrying out individual interviews of patients and nurses using narrative inquiry. The aim is to interview a maximum of fourteen participants, using purposive and quota sampling to gain participant equality. Qualitative data will be gained through the interview process seeking patient and nurse experiences, attitudes and understandings of using Mindfulness for CRF management in gynaecological cancer, also establishing if and how Mindfulness is introduced to these patients. Nurse participants will work in an oncology setting with experience of caring for women with gynaecological cancer, whilst the patients will have a diagnosis of gynaecological cancer and a previous experience or existing understanding of Mindfulness. Implications for practice include an enhanced understanding of patient and nurse experiences with Mindfulness and their perception of implementing this into a person-centred fatigue management care plan.