Low Caring Morale: A Qualitative Study of Ghanaian Pediatric Oncology Nurses’ Care Practice Challenges.

Abstract Background: Pediatric cancer is a global problem, and some studies have highlighted that nurses in a low-income country experience work related challenges. Other studies have confirmed that nurses' caring work is often affected by several intrinsic and extrinsive factors which directly or indirectly influence the level of nurses' caring morale. But no study has explored this phenomenon among the pediatric oncology nurses in Ghana. The purpose of this study is to explore and understand the challenges that the pediatric oncology nurses experience when caring for children with cancer in Ghana. Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted from August 2019 - April 2020, among 14 Ghanaian pediatric oncology nurses who were purposively sampled. The data collection instrument was a face-to-face, in-depth, semi-structured individual interview. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed inductively using Elo and Kyngas content analysis approach. The criteria proposed by Guba and Lincoln were used to ensure the validity of the research. Results: The analysis of the interviews, suggests that the challenges that the pediatric oncology nurses experience are: Time-consuming care, Low Job motivations, Inadequate logistics, Work stress, Reduced labor force, Low knowledge level, Absence of team work and the Perception of contracting cancer. Conclusions: The results point to a number of organizational and personal constraints that leads to low morale of nurses who work at the pediatric oncology ward. There is the need for the administrative managers of hospitals, government and other stake holders to invest in human, material and financial resources for delivering child hood cancer care services. It is hoped that by addressing this challenges, there would be improvement in the care that is provided to children with cancer and also positively improve the care giving morale of the nurses.