1. Introduction

Lung cancer is one of the most common malignancies in clinical practice, known for its high mortality rate, posing significant threats to life, health and societal well-being. Its clinical presentations commonly include symptoms such as coughing, hemoptysis, and chest pain. With a global incidence rate of approximately 23%, China alone accounts for over 40% of lung cancer cases [1, 2]. Presently, surgical resection of lung tissues remains the standard clinical treatment for lung cancer. However, this procedure is associated with substantial trauma to the patients, resulting in prolonged recovery periods and increased susceptibility to complications. Thus, there is a pressing need to bolster postoperative nursing interventions [3, 4].

Conventional nursing practices often employ uniform measures for monitoring patient conditions, administering medications, and providing dietary guidance. Nevertheless, these approaches frequently fail to address the diverse and specific nursing requirements of individual patients [5]. Therefore, there is an important need for more comprehensive and tailored nursing interventions aimed at optimizing patient outcomes. In this regard, refined nursing represents a systematic and comprehensive nursing model that employs early detection, treatment and intervention strategies to minimize patient harm and holds significant importance in the postoperative care of lung cancer patients [6]. Furthermore, the prolonged invasion of lung cancer, extended treatment regimens, diverse treatment modalities, and higher medication doses can profoundly impact patients’ confidence and emotional well-being, making them often experience self-doubt and despair, with anxiety and fear regarding their illness, impeding treatment cooperation and adherence, thereby adversely affecting therapeutic outcomes and prognosis [7]. Related literature suggests that effective nursing interventions during lung cancer treatment can improve treatment outcomes, alleviate patient distress, and mitigate adverse reactions [8]. Therefore, targeted nursing interventions have gained prominence in the care of lung cancer patients.

A considerable proportion of lung cancer patients are male, who are inherently more prone to unhealthy lifestyle habits such as smoking, resulting in a higher incidence of lung cancer compared to females. Additionally, men often adopt distinct psychological coping mechanisms when confronted with illness, necessitating tailored psychological interventions to assist them in navigating various challenges during the treatment journey. Hence, this study focuses on male lung cancer patients to investigate the impact of refined nursing combined with targeted psychological care on postoperative pulmonary function, self-management abilities, anxiety and depression levels, and complication rates.

2. Methods

2.2 Study setting and sampling

A total of 80 male patients who underwent lung cancer surgery at Lishui People’s Hospital in Zhejiang Province from January 2022 to January 2024 were identified (Fig. 1) and divided into an experimental group (40 cases) and a control group (40 cases) based on the intervention method they underwent. The general characteristics of both groups were comparable (p > 0.05) (Table 1).

Fig. 1.Flow chart of the study design and grouping.

Table 1.Comparison of general information between the two groups (x̄ ± s).

Group	n	Age (yr)	Disease type
			Adenocarcinoma	Squamous cell carcinoma	Large cell carcinoma
Experimental group	40	50.25 ± 7.51	18	9	13
Control group	40	51.50 ± 7.44	20	11	9
t/χ2	-	0.748	1.033
p	-	0.457	0.597
Group	n	Smoking history	History of drinking	History of diabetes	History of hypertension
Experimental group	40	19	17	9	13
Control group	40	17	19	10	11
χ2	-	0.202	0.202	0.069	0.238
p	-	0.653	0.653	0.793	0.626

3. Results

4. Discussion

Lung cancer, a serious respiratory disease with an unclear etiology, is closely associated with factors such as obesity, smoking, environmental pollution, and excessive mental stress. Research suggests that its incidence and mortality rates continue to escalate annually. The primary treatment modalities for lung cancer encompass chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and surgery, with surgical resection being the predominant and most efficacious method [13]. Effective postoperative care plays a crucial role in accelerating patient rehabilitation and minimizing the occurrence of complications.

In current clinical practice, the integration of radical lung cancer surgery with postoperative nursing intervention has become widespread and demonstrated favorable therapeutic outcomes. Xue et al. [14] reported that lung cancer patients often endure significant suffering from the disease and stress of surgical treatment, which can elicit various adverse emotions. These negative emotions can detrimentally impact patients’ treatment adherence and prognosis. However, scientific and effective nursing interventions have been shown to help patients accurately comprehend their disease and enhance their confidence in the treatment process. Zhao et al. [15] found that dietary intervention combined with refined nursing care could effectively alleviate pain, calm patients, reduce complication rates, improve nutrition and sleep quality, and enhance overall quality of life, thus warranting clinical application and promotion. Collectively, these studies highlight the positive outcomes achievable through surgical treatment coupled with nursing intervention in lung cancer management.

Our study findings revealed that after the intervention, the experimental group had higher FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC and MVV values compared to the control group, suggesting that the integration of refined nursing with targeted psychological care could indeed significantly enhance the recovery of respiratory function in postoperative lung cancer patients. Consistent with our findings, Juan Du’s study, which involved continuous nursing combined with breathing exercises for 60 lung cancer patients, demonstrated higher postoperative respiratory function indices in the combined group compared to the conventional care group [16]. These findings support the notion that postoperative health education contributes to patients’ comprehension of postoperative rehabilitation and improves their confidence in recovery.

Refined nursing provides professional guidance in various areas such as expectoration, oxygen inhalation, closed chest drainage, and enhancement of respiratory functions, ultimately leading to improved lung function indices while maintaining stable vital signs. Moreover, patients receive instructions on performing diaphragmatic breathing exercises and cardiopulmonary functional training post-surgery, allowing them to acquire diverse breathing techniques, resulting in favorable overall rehabilitation outcomes and enhanced cooperation with treatment, thereby facilitating both surgical procedures and recovery processes. Effective pain management post-surgery, involving analgesic drugs, early mobilization, and timely removal of urinary catheters, promotes blood circulation, encourages lung expansion, reduces atelectasis, and minimizes pulmonary infections, consequently contributing to the effective improvement of lung function. Throughout the entire nursing process, psychological nursing plays a pivotal role in positively influencing patients’ mental states through various methods and channels. The nurses strive to assist patients in attaining the most suitable mental and physical states under their specific conditions by implementing effective psychological care measures tailored to patients’ psychological activity patterns and response characteristics. These measures include group psychotherapy and the organization of group exchange activities to enhance connections among different patients, thereby enhancing their motivation and confidence in recovery. This approach positively impacts patients’ perceptions and understanding, alters their psychological state and behavior, and aids in their adaptation to new interpersonal relationships and medical environments, thus establishing an optimal psychological milieu conducive to treatment and recovery, ultimately facilitating early recovery. Furthermore, targeted psychological nursing through preoperative basic care and patient education on relevant knowledge and psychological adjustments can mitigate patients’ tension and panic, enhance their compliance, and foster greater cooperation with behavioral training [17].

Postoperative interventions such as tube removal and airway management are essential in restoring normal respiratory functions postoperatively. After the intervention, the experimental group demonstrated higher scores than the control group across various dimensions of self-management ability. Miao Jing’s study, which divided 108 cancer patients into a control group receiving conventional care and an observation group receiving comprehensive high-quality care, reported increased Self-care scores post-intervention in both groups, with the observation group exhibiting higher scores than the control group. This underscores the effectiveness of high-quality care in improving self-management abilities and enhancing the postoperative quality of life for cancer chemotherapy patients [18]. Combined nursing encompasses comprehensive care interventions for patients, including targeted preoperative health education to enhance patients’ understanding of their disease, regular WeChat notifications about disease-related knowledge to enhance patients’ awareness and chemotherapy compliance, and follow-up calls to monitor medication usage and physical condition. These monitoring efforts serve as a foundation for physicians to adjust treatment plans. Moreover, timely and comprehensive assessment of patients’ psychological states postoperatively combined with targeted counseling can reduce negative emotions and feelings of burden. In addition, dietary and exercise interventions can further contribute to enhancing patients’ resistance. Under combined nursing intervention, patients establish effective communication with nurses, receive professional guidance, and enhance their self-management skills [19]. The implementation of psychological care serves to alleviate patients’ anxiety and fear, thereby providing an optimal state for receiving treatment. It effectively instills confidence in recovery, enabling patients to confront the disease courageously, develop a correct understanding of the illness, and cultivate healthy living habits, which in turn facilitates patients’ psychological adjustment and promotes improvements in their social functioning.

Addressing clinical challenges through diverse solutions and nursing interventions, coupled with health education and stress-relief psychological communication, can effectively mitigate patients’ adverse behavioral habits and comprehensively enhance their self-management abilities. After the intervention, the experimental group exhibited significantly lower SAS and SDS scores compared to the control group and a reduced incidence of complications, which indicates the significant improvement in patients’ negative emotions achieved through refined nursing combined with targeted psychological care. Wang Fengju’s research corroborates this finding, highlighting the effectiveness of psychological interventions in enhancing the psychological health and quality of life of postoperative lung cancer patients [20]. Patients with lung cancer often face emotions such as depression and anxiety, which can precipitate autonomic nervous system dysfunction and physiological and pathological changes. Integrated nursing throughout the treatment process, accompanied by a range of care measures, offers substantial physical and psychological comfort to patients, thereby diminishing the occurrence of postoperative adverse reactions, expediting recovery, and enhancing postoperative quality of life [21, 22]. Thus, targeted psychological nursing intervention represents a humane approach aimed at influencing patients’ cognitive judgments and subjective perceptions of their condition, thereby enhancing adherence to and cooperation with treatment plans.

Appropriate psychological care interventions not only alleviate pain and mitigate depression and anxiety but also foster active engagement with treatment and coping with related unfavorable factors in postoperative lung cancer patients. Psychological care has been shown to enhance adrenal cortical function and improve immunity in lung cancer patients, significantly alleviating their perceived burden. Herein, multidimensional psychological nursing interventions were implemented for postoperative lung cancer patients to address negative emotions from various angles. These interventions notably reduced postoperative pain perception, alleviated anxiety and depression, enhanced confidence in treatment, and promoted active cooperation with treatment [23], which indirectly demonstrates the effectiveness of refined nursing combined with psychological care intervention in reducing patients’ negative emotions, enhancing quality of life, and offering advantages over conventional care. However, the small sample size in this study may introduce biases in the results. Future research is needed to focus on increasing the sample size and conducting multicenter studies to enhance the accuracy of research findings.

5. Conclusions

In conclusion, the integration of refined nursing with targeted psychological care has shown promising results in improving postoperative pulmonary function, alleviating negative emotions, reducing complication rates, and enhancing self-management skills. These findings collectively show the potential value of this combined approach in clinical practice, warranting further promotion for potential implementation.

Availability of data and materials

The authors declare that all data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and any raw data can be obtained from the corresponding author upon request.

Author contributions

LFC—designed the study and carried them out; prepared the manuscript for publication and reviewed the draft of the manuscript. LFC, XPC and JJC—supervised the data collection, analyzed the data, interpreted the data. All authors have read and approved the manuscript.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of Lishui People’s Hospital (LLW-FO-403). Written informed consent was obtained from a legally authorized representative for anonymized patient information to be published in this article.

Acknowledgment

Not applicable.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.