Abstract: Objective: To explore the barriers and needs of medical staff in assisting breast cancer patients in fertility preservation decision-making, to provide reference for the medical system to construct targeted solutions. Methods: This was a descriptive qualitative study. From January to March 2024, 16 medical staff were selected for one-to-one semi-structured interviews using the purposive sampling method in a tertiary grade A hospital in Baoding, Hebei province. Traditional content analysis methods were used to organize and analyze the interview materials. Results: Two themes and nine sub-themes were extracted. Barrier factors: including the barrier factors in medical staff (insufficient awareness of fertility preservation, lack of professional ability of fertility preservation, and limited consultation time of fertility preservation) and the barrier factors in organizational policy (poor accessibility of medical resources for fertility preservation, lack of interdisciplinary collaboration mechanisms for fertility preservation, fertility preservation support policies need to be improved). Support needs: decision-aid support tools, training professional personnel, improving decision-making environment facilities. Conclusion: Medical staff are faced with barrier factors in the process of assisting breast cancer patients in making fertility preservation decision-making. It is necessary to meet the diverse support needs of medical staff to assist patients in making fertility preservation decision-making.

Key words: breast cancer; fertility preservation; medical staff; decision-making; qualitative study