Cancer Patient Satisfaction Can Be Achieved Through Good Nursing Coordination

Coordinated, continuous care provided by oncology nurses to cancer patients improves quality of life and patient satisfaction, according to a presentation at the 2018 European Lung Cancer Congress in Geneva.

The researchers’ main aim was to determine whether continuous care from coordinated nurses offered a tangible benefit over standard nursing care for patients receiving lung cancer treatment.

Lung canceris the leading cause of cancer deaths in men and women. Although developing treatments have brought progress, better care is necessary for better outcomes. Increasing treatment options and longer treatment durations prolong survival, but have also led to more side effects .

The multidisciplinary teams required to manage combination treatments can complicate care in poorly organized systems. Without good organization, having more resources can, contrary to expectations, reduce quality of life during treatment. Healthcare institutions increasingly face dissatisfaction about delays and even misinformation. Together, these cause confusion, distress and adherence problems among patients.

In Canada, alongside the doctors treating patients, there is an oncology nurse . Each nurse’s telephone number is available to 50 - 60 patients, and the nurse regularly attends to each.

The oncology nurse undertakes tasks such as following patients’ files and new test results and arranging doctor appointments. If a patient calls about concerning symptoms, the nurse contacts the doctor directly. Patients can thus receive prompt intervention without reaching the emergency department.

At Notre Dame University Hospital in Montreal, a study in this context involved advanced (stage 4) lung cancer in 65 patients. They were divided into two arms, and both completed satisfaction and quality-of-life questionnaires. The continuous care group also completed a special questionnaire about oncology nurses’ roles.

Significant differences favored the group receiving continuous oncology nursing care in all categories, including quality of life and physical, emotional and functional satisfaction. In response to the questionnaire, most patients said they better understood the course of their illness and treatment side effects and that oncology nurses’ presence gave them greater strength during their cancer journey.

• Patient education has become indispensable to quality cancer treatment