Abstract: Objective: To investigate how patients with esophageal cancer discharged from hospital after surgery are assessed regarding their supportive care needs. Methods: Totally 268 nurses from 18 tertiary Grade A hospitals in China were investigated with self-designed questionnaire. Results: About 87.7% nurses used direct inquires about recent status for supportive care needs. About 96.6% nurses believed that they would ignore some patients' needs after every assessment. Most nurses assessed patient needs only according to their clinical experience or a department's self-designed checklist and the supportive care needs of patients which most nurses think are not consistent with the actual needs of patients themselves. About 45.1% nurses believed that the existing evaluation methods could reduce supportive care quality for postoperative esophageal cancer patients. Conclusion: The present assessment methods of supportive care needs for postoperative esophageal cancer patients after discharge are subjective. There are no standardized scales targeting supportive care needs assessment for postoperative esophageal cancer patients after discharge.

Key words: esophageal cancer; surgical operation; supportive care; needs; questionnaires; interview