Nurses and the Head and Neck Cancer Team

Patients with head & neck cancer present particularly difficult problems in management, support, rehabilitation, and follow-up. Optimal care is best provided by a multidisciplinary team with very diverse capabilities that can address the multiple and changing needs of the patient and the family during the extended and complicated process of diagnosis, evaluation, care, rehabilitation, and follow-up. The multidisciplinary team is headed administratively by a physician leader so that both policy and individual treatment decisions will be followed. Coordination of the team activities, as well as monitoring the progress of individual patients can be performed well by an educated and experienced nurse leader, with additional input from other nurses as required. Such a policy provides tangible benefit to patients, physicians, and institutions. The roles for and the benefits from such nursing leadership are described.