Uncertainty in the illness of the caregiver of the surgical cancer patient: a cross-sectional study

Objective: to measure disease uncertainty in caregivers of cancer patients undergoing organ harvesting surgery. Method: Descriptive cross-sectional study with caregivers of surgical patients with cancer, in a university hospital. Data were collected from 30 caregivers and the Mishel's Disease Uncertainty Scale was applied to the companions. Data were tabulated in Excel ® 2019 and entered in R ® software, 4.0.4. Result: The profile was characterized in a predominantly female sample, mixed ethnicity, married marital status, Catholic religion, active occupation, higher education, low family income and half of the sample with psychological disorders. A moderate level of uncertainty was detected, finding an association between the domain falta de informação and the participants' education. Conclusions: The socio-clinical demographic profile of the caregivers was traced and there was moderate uncertainty, which, if poorly managed, could lead to caregiver overload, with nursing professionals being fundamental in the management of this condition.