Understanding oncology nurses' experiences with virtual care and interprofessional collaboration in Canada: A...

Virtual and hybrid oncology care are now embedded across many cancer systems, reshaping how oncology nurses deliver supportive care and collaborate across teams. However, limited evidence describes oncology nurses' practices and experiences in this evolving environment. This study explored Canadian oncology nurses' experiences with virtual care and their contributions within interprofessional teams.

This mixed-methods sequential explanatory study began with a survey of Canadian ambulatory oncology nurses (N = 73), assessing confidence and comfort with virtual nursing practice, perceived interprofessional collaboration, adequacy of preparation, and barriers and facilitators to virtual care. Descriptive statistics and independent t-tests were used. In phase two, semi-structured interviews were conducted (N = 10) to elaborate on survey findings. A qualitative descriptive approach with reflexive thematic analysis was used. Integration occurred through side-by-side comparison and a joint display.

Nurses rated interprofessional collaboration (M = 4.32 ± 0.05) and understanding of their role (M = 4.34 ± 0.99) highly. Ratings were lower for perceived ability to enact virtual nursing practice (M = 3.97 ± 0.60) and neutral for adequacy of preparation (M = 3.12 ± 1.25). No significant differences were found between nurses who received training and those who did not. Interviews further revealed uneven preparation, challenges with virtual assessment and increased coordination workload. Integration showed that while conceptual role clarity was strong, role enactment was constrained by organizational, technological and educational factors.

Although oncology nurses reported strong role understanding and interprofessional values, interviews showed that role enactment in virtual care was constrained by uneven preparation, assessment limitations, and increased coordination demands. Virtual care can enhance access and family engagement, but standardized, competency-based preparation and system-level support is needed to align oncology nursing role expectations with the realities of virtual care delivery.