Advances in how clinical nurses can evaluate and improve quality of life for individuals with cancer.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To describe advances in the ways that clinical nurses understand, assess, and work to improve quality of life (QOL) for individuals with cancer since the 1995 Oncology Nursing Society's State-of-the-Knowledge Conference on QOL.

DATA SOURCES

Published research and clinical articles.

DATA SYNTHESIS

The number of QOL assessment tools and methods for understanding QOL results has increased. However, scant literature has focused on how clinical oncology nurses evaluate QOL and the methods they use to affect QOL for individuals with cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the nurse-patient relationship, clinical nurses are able to assess QOL in individuals with cancer and intervene appropriately to improve QOL.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING

Clinical nurses can involve individuals with cancer in rating their QOL to assist in providing high-quality care that is directed at positively affecting QOL.