The aims of this study were to clarify difficulties experienced by families facing the cessation of home-based care for terminal cancer patients, and to review the associated necessary nursing practices. We conducted semi-structured interviews with ten families. A qualitative research design was selected for this study, and the data was interpreted using content analysis techniques. The results were integrated into seven major categories: “unable to assess present symptoms for lack of understanding terminal cancer symptoms,” “feeling emotional pain during the patient’s aggravated condition,” “difficulties in coping with various patients’ physical symptoms: problems regarding inexperienced care,” “exhausted by living 24 hours a day with patient: lack of support, because of constraints from important people in the caregiver’s life,” and “difficulties faced by primary family caregivers in preparing a treatment environment.” Family caregivers were not able to prepare a treatment environment, because of a lack of understanding the symptoms of terminal cancer and an unwillingness to admit experiencing mental and physical burdens. The findings of this study suggested that the role of a nurse is to understand the family’s condition and values, provide required information in advance, and to adjust and prepare the treatment environment.

The increase in core temperature during exercise in a hot environment causes hyperventilation (hyperthermia-induced hyperventilation), which decreases the partial pressure of arterial blood carbon dioxide. However, the effects on the body of wearing a surgical mask during exercise that would cause hyperthermia-induced hyperventilation have not been clarified. Therefore, we investigated such effects. Ten healthy men participated in the study. A 44-minute steady-state load cycling exercise (55% of peak oxygen uptake) was performed under hot environmental conditions (30℃, 70% relative humidity). Two experimental conditions were set: exercising with surgical face mask (MASK) and without a surgical face mask (CON). The experiment was conducted as a randomized crossover design. Body temperatures, respiratory gas exchange, and subjective indices were measured during exercise. In terms of physiological indices, respiratory rate only revealed a main effect and was significantly lower in the MASK than in CON at 44 min of exercise (CON 41.0±19.2 breaths/min, MASK 35.6±11.2 breaths/min p=0.029). No significant differences were observed between conditions in other physiological parameters. As for the subjective indices, dyspnea showed a condition × time interaction (p=0.016), which was significantly higher in the MASK starting at 5 minutes through the end (CON 4.5±3.5 and MASK 8.5±2.1 at the end of exercise p=0.016). No significant differences were observed in other subjective measures. In conclusion, wearing a surgical face mask during moderate-intensity prolonged exercise under hot environmental conditions significantly worsened dyspnea, but no significant differences were observed in other physiological indices or subjective indices.