Congress Abstracts 2006

8

POSITIVE EFFECT OF EDUCATION ON THE PATIENTS' UNDERSTANDING OF FEBRILE NEUTROPENIA. Jill Dickerson, RN, BSN, OCN^®, and Susan Carson, RN, BSN, OCN^®, Tyler Cancer Center, Tyler, CA.

Febrile neutropenia (FN) may be a sign of life-threatening infection in patients treated with myelosuppressive chemotherapy. Patients should, therefore, know the signs and symptoms of FN. Physicians at the Tyler Cancer Center were concerned that patients did not know the definition of fever; patients were either waiting too long to call in, allowing temperatures to rise significantly above the suggested 100.5ºF, or calling in too soon despite an education program developed by nurses, which the staff considered effective.

To improve patient understanding of FN and the significance of absolute neutrophil count (ANC) by implementing new teaching methods and tools in a month-long patient education campaign

Nurses at the Tyler Cancer Center surveyed patients to assess their awareness of neutropenia and the point at which fever should be reported to the clinic. To increase patient understanding of the definition and consequences of FN, nurses conducted a campaign that included posters and revised literature and teaching sheets. Nurses also wore T-shirts that directed patients to call the clinic with temperatures >100.5ºF. Approximately 5 to 6 weeks after initiating the campaign, nurses surveyed patients again.

The survey of 100 patients conducted before the campaign showed that 30% of patients did not understand what ANC meant and 41% did not know the definition of fever, the temperature at which they should call the clinic. After the campaign was initiated, a survey of another 100 patients showed a substantial improvement in patient understanding of FN; only 6% did not know what ANC meant (an 80% improvement) and only 19% did not know the definition of fever (a 54% improvement).

Although patients are routinely educated by oncology nurses about the adverse effects of chemotherapy, they may not retain the information because 75% of what is heard is typically forgotten after 2 days. "Adult" learning techniques show that the more stimulating the learning activity is to the senses, the longer the information will be retained. By implementing learning techniques that incorporated materials that were heard, read, and seen, this nurse-driven campaign was able to more effectively teach patients about FN.