Research Trends of Oncology Nursing in Japan and Around the World

Abstract

This article reviews recent cancer nursing research in Japan and the USA, and topics relating to international cancer nursing societies. Most of the articles on cancer nursing published in Japan are in the Journal of the Japanese Society of Cancer Nursing. A total of 46 articles have been published over 3 years from 2009, and many of these are qualitative studies aimed at understanding the response of cancer patients to disease along with their symptoms and backgrounds. The International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care (ISNCC) holds a conference biennially, at which cancer nursing research is presented by researchers from around the world. Many pieces of research on the topics of the symptomatic management and health impact of smoking and cancer screening are discussed. Also, at the Congress of the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS), the world's largest cancer nursing society in the USA, a nation advanced in the field of cancer nursing, symptomatic management has already been discussed; however, the topics have been shifting from nausea, vomiting and pain to adverse events induced by novel treatments such as skin alterations, peripheral neuropathy and fatigue. Cancer nursing research is not yet fully mature in terms of the number and range of articles. In nursing research, it is difficult to measure a patient's response to their disease because it includes psychosocial response; the results are difficult to claim as scientific evidence. Therefore, it is still necessary to conduct research with detailed descriptions of clinical phenomena and to develop cancer nursing research, including actual study methodologies.