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A nurse-led intervention focused on patient centered follow-up care that supports and addresses patient concerns may improve the quality of life among survivors of lymphoma, according to a study published in the European Journal of Oncology Nursing.
As advances in medicine prolong survival among patients with lymphoma, there is also an increase in unmet needs — such as fatigue, poor nutrition, psychosocial distress, cognition impairment — among survivors that may negatively affect their well-being and quality of life. Nurse-led survivorship care in the early survivorship phase may improve outcomes.
For this exploratory, qualitative descriptive study, researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 lymphoma survivors. Eligible patients were participants in the Care After Lymphoma (CALy) phase 2 trial, which aimed to create a nurse-led lymphoma survivorship clinic (NLSC) to assist patients in early survivorship. All patients must have completed all aspects of the NSLC intervention as well as 4 different surveys measuring unmet needs and mental stress at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months; patients also completed and received an individualized lymphoma survivorship care plan and treatment summary (SCPTS).
Analysis of interviews showed there were 3 components of the nurse-led intervention that were emphasized by patients: reassurance and individualized care, information and support, and empowerment. Participants reported that scheduling NLSC appointments to ask questions and receive individual attention was helpful and reassuring, and the SCPTS provided extra information and treatment knowledge, allowing patients to feel empowered to take responsibility for their health and well-being.
The authors concluded that “nurse-led survivorship care may offer an acceptable model to deliver patient-centered posttreatment follow-up. This model allows the time required to individualize and tailor supportive survivorship care.”
Reference
Taylor K, Monterosso L, Bulsara C. Qualitative results from a phase II pilot randomised controlled trial of a lymphoma nurse-led model of survivorship care. Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2018;35:9-14.
