The development of a nursing assessment and symptom management clinic

The Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC) DeCesaris Cancer Institute (DCI) began its participation in the ONS Foundation-supported Breast Cancer Care Quality Measures Set pilot study in 2010. The design and measures of the project were intriguing, paving a path for DCI to define quality measures and outcomes that were of value to the AAMC's oncology population and system. As the pilot program was getting underway, measurement instruments were selected for fatigue, distress, and sleep-wake disturbances. These were used as quality measures for care of patients receiving chemotherapy, to be reported to the Oncology Quality Council, AAMC DCI's Executive Quality Council, and the AAMC Board of Directors. Scores for these quality measures, as well as patient satisfaction scores for the Outpatient Infusion Center, have increased markedly since the 2010 pilot test. The increases in scores inspired nursing leadership, in conjunction with AAMC DCI's Medical Oncology Executive Committee, to develop an innovative nursing model, the advanced oncology nurse practitioner-led symptom management clinic, to systematically and efficiently treat the needs of patients with cancer.