Enhancing the Delivery of Educational Content for Patients Starting Cancer Treatment

Oncology nurses educate patients and caregivers about treatment. At one cancer center, treatment education was previously delivered via an in-person group class offered twice weekly to adults. This educational approach strained available resources, prompting the team to identify a new method for educating patients.

This quality improvement initiative aimed to implement a longer interval between patient education and first treatment to enhance patients' retention of educational content and maintain resource-neutral workflows.

Educational videos were developed and made available in the patient portal, via email, or for in-clinic viewing by the patient or caregiver. Scripting was developed for nurses to conduct teach-back during follow-up calls, which standardized content and teach-back delivery. The time from patient education to treatment initiation was compared for different educational methods.

This quality improvement project increased the length of time between patient education delivery and cancer treatment initiation. Patients and nurses reported satisfaction with the new process, and patients appreciated the opportunity to directly ask a nurse questions.