Paper
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Accurate Nursing Assessment of Information Needs in Oncology Patients
Joyce P. Griffin-Sobel, PhD, RN, AOCN, APRNBC, Hunter College-Bellevue School of Nursing, New York, NY, USA
| Learning Objective #1: describe differences between nurse and cancer patient perceptions of patient information needs. |
| Learning Objective #2: describe an instrument useful in rapid assessment of oncology patients' information needs for self care of symptoms. |
The nature of the interaction between patient and nurse is vitally important to positive health outcomes in treatment adherence, symptom management and satisfaction. Yet, few studies have evaluated the strategies nurses use to assess the information patients need to manage their illness and treatment. With the change in oncology care to outpatient services and brief encounters, the ability of a nurse to rapidly develop effective communication with the patient is essential in the delivery of high quality care. Degner (1998) reports that the majority of oncology health care professionals believe they should provide information to patients, but many patients report difficulties in obtaining the type and amount of information they want. The purpose of this study was to identify the strategies nurses use to assess the information needs in outpatient oncology patients in a large, urban medical center, and to determine patient perceptions of their information needs. The communication between the nurse and patient, as the nurse assesses the informational needs of the patient, may be hampered by a variety of factors, such as language barriers, lack of trust, brevity of visits, or different communication styles. In the IOM report, To Err is Human, communication problems were found to be the underlying cause of 10% of adverse drug events. This descriptive study, in a large urban medical center oncology clinic, examined the strategies nurses, n=50, use to assess information needs of patients, via a Delphi survey and Minick Early Recognition scale. Patients, n=75, completed two scales which assessed their knowledge of self care of cancer symptoms, and perceptions of nursing care. Results revealed significant differences between nurses’ assessment of patient knowledge, and patient’s self-assessment. Seven key indicators of inaccurate nursing assessment of patient information needs will be described.