Congress Abstracts 2006

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PATIENT EDUCATION CAREPATH: A PILOT PROJECT. Marlana Mattson, RN, BSN, OCN^®, University Hospitals of Cleveland Ireland Cancer Center, Cleveland, OH.

Background/Problem: Patient education regarding chemo-therapy treatments, side effects and symptom management is a responsibility of the oncology nurse. Oncology nurses consider patient education a high priority. This was described in the ONS Ambulatory Office Nurse Survey published in 2004. Oncology nurses are often faced with the challenge of integrating teaching into a busy schedule of patient care activities. Although oncology nurses consider patient education a high priority, chart reviews often reflect incomplete patient education or incomplete documentation. The lack of specific guidelines related to patient education has lead to variable teaching practices among oncology nurses.

Purpose: The purpose of this project is to develop and implement an outcome oriented, multidisciplinary patient education carepath that ensures a consistent, high quality standard of patient education at an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Intervention: A sub-group of the Ireland Cancer Center Patient Education Committee completed an assessment of the current patient education practices. Committee members outlined patient education topics relevant to general oncology treatments (i.e. nausea, infection, fatigue) and described the content necessary to provide comprehensive patient education. A carepath was designed with major treatment-related patient education topics organized in rows. Columns across the page represented periods of time. Individual blocks on the carepath list topics of patient education that should be discussed at a specific point in time. Each block includes bullet points of information to ensure consistent topic teaching among oncology RN staff. Group discussions, staff meetings, and poster presentations were used to introduce the patient education carepath project. The carepath was then introduced into three disease specific medical oncology practices for a six-week trial.

Evaluation: A retrospective chart audit to assess for documentation trends and completeness. All oncology RNs using the new patient education carepath will complete an evaluation tool to determine ease of use and the comprehensiveness of the carepath content.

Discussion: Implications for oncology nursing practice include consistent high quality patient education, as well as improved documentation. Integration of the patient education carepath into standard practice at the Ireland Cancer Center is the final project goal.