Nurse-Led Interventions Reduced Shortness of Breath, Fatigue in Lung Cancer Patients

A nurse-led symptom management program conducted in Canada showed improvements for patients with lung cancer in the areas of dyspnea, or shortness of breath, and fatigue. Nurses provided patients with information and support, according to a study presented at the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) 39th Annual Congress.

Researchers at the Grand River Regional Cancer Centre in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, conducted the study in partnership with the Dyspnea Management Clinic. Oncology nurses used the results of an assessment of patients’ understanding of their symptoms to develop a protocol for patients with underlying lung cancer, Oncology Nurse Advisor reports. The protocol included:

• Assessment of breathlessness,
• Understanding the meaning of symptoms,
• Recognition of problems that require medical intervention,
• Offering breathing retraining,
• Use of relaxation technique, and
• Goal setting.

Each of the 43 patients participating received a one-hour consultation combined with follow-up visits. Their understanding of symptoms was measured by advanced nurse practitioners. The nurses could then implement a comprehensive approach to address dyspnea symptoms. Scores for dyspnea and tiredness were significantly improved in all patients when compared to a previous control group of 40 patients. The results demonstrate that oncology nurse-led interventions are effective methods for improving symptom management in patients with lung cancer, according to the researchers.

The role of nurses in providing care to cancer patients was explored by an INQRI team at the University of Utah. Led by Susan Beck, this interdisciplinary team designed a robust measure to assess adult patients’ opinions about how nurses manage cancer-related pain. Beck and her team developed an instrument using qualitative and quantitative data to elicit patients’ opinions about how their nurses and other members of their care team managed their pain and, ultimately, to help patients select hospitals based on this dimension of their care experience.

New Study Offers Guidance on how to Offer Evidence-Based Care

Evidence-based care is a hallmark of good health care practice, but it can be difficult to ensure that evidence-based practice is the norm throughout health care systems. A new study conducted by nurse researchers offers guidance for health care providers on effective adoption of evidence-based practice in clinical settings. The guidance includes 24 evidence-based practice competencies for registered and advanced-practice nurses in real-world clinical settings.

The study, led by Bernadette Melnyk, dean of The Ohio State University College of Nursing and chief wellness officer for Ohio State, recommends that health care institutions build these skills into employment expectations, evaluations, and clinical ladder promotion systems to ensure ongoing implementation of evidence-based care.

To develop the list of competencies, the research team collected input from national leaders in evidence-based practice (EBP) and surveyed 80 nurses who are EBP mentors. Thirteen of the competencies apply to registered nurses and the other 11 are for advanced practice nurses.

The list of the 24 evidence-based practice competencies is available here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/wvn.12021/full and the full study is published in the journal Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing. An Ohio State University statement on the study is available here.

The goal of an INQRI-funded project “Dissemination and Implementation of Evidence-Based Methods to Measure and Improve Pain Outcomes” was to disseminate and implement evidence-based approaches to measure and improve pain care and outcomes in a sample of 100 hospitals across the United States. Two webinars are available detailing the results of the project: Webinar I and Webinar II. The interdisciplinary team was led by Susan Beck and Nancy Dunton.