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

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Oncology
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Virtual and hybrid care models are increasingly integrated into oncology systems.
• Limited evidence exists on oncology nurses' experiences and practices in virtual care settings.
• This study addresses the gap by exploring Canadian oncology nurses' virtual care experiences and interprofessional collaboration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore Canadian oncology nurses' experiences with virtual care delivery.
• To examine their contributions within interprofessional teams in a virtual environment.
• To identify barriers and facilitators to effective virtual oncology nursing practice.

Main Methods:

• A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was employed.
• Phase one involved a survey of 73 Canadian ambulatory oncology nurses.
• Phase two included semi-structured interviews with 10 nurses to deepen understanding of survey findings.

Main Results:

• Nurses reported high levels of interprofessional collaboration and role understanding but lower confidence in virtual practice enactment.
• Preparation for virtual care was rated as neutral, with no significant differences based on prior training.
• Interviews highlighted challenges in virtual assessment, coordination workload, and organizational/technological constraints on role enactment.

Conclusions:

• Oncology nurses possess strong role clarity and value interprofessional collaboration in virtual care.
• Uneven preparation, assessment limitations, and coordination demands hinder effective role enactment.
• Standardized, competency-based training and system-level support are essential for optimizing virtual oncology nursing.