ABSTRACT
Introduction: Quality of life is a multidimentional concept which reflects an individual’s overall sense of wellbeing and life satisfaction. The present review is the first part of a series of articles which aim to make the reader think and provide them with a direction through the concept of quality of life, the problems which emerged and the assessment of it. All from the point of view of clinical nurse and nurse researcher focusing on the cancer patient.
The aim of the present review is to describe the meaning and the concept of quality of life. Other objectives are to describe its characteristics, to point out the importance of its assessment and to discuss its dimensions for the cancer patient.
Literature review. The article was prepared and written using Greek and international sources, of the last 20 years, referring to the QoL concept. Nursing researchers show growing interesting on the multidimensional concept of QoL because it is considered as an outcome of nursing care.
Conclusion. In nursing bibliography, nursing definitions and theories are formulated and nursing studies are conducted in order to promote QoL assessment in all phases of the cancer patient care.
Key-words: quality of life, cancer, oncology nursing