Identifying patient symptoms after radiotherapy using a nurse-managed telephone interview.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To identify patients' symptoms following completion of radiotherapy for common cancers by a nurse-managed telephone interview.

DESIGN

Quality assurance project.

SETTING

Radiation therapy department in a community hospital in a large midwestern city.

SAMPLE

One hundred eleven patients treated by radiotherapy for primary cancer of the prostate, head/neck, lung, and breast.

METHODS

Two time points of data collection: nurses completed an end-of-treatment symptom evaluation within the last five days of treatment and conducted telephone interviews 14-21 days post-therapy. Interview questions were based on each individual's end-of-treatment symptoms and common site-specific side effects.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES

Symptoms at end of treatment and 14-21 days after therapy completion, nursing assessments and interventions, and length of telephone interview.

FINDINGS

At the end of treatment, 104 (94%) patients were experiencing symptoms. Nurses contacted 106 (95%) patients by telephone 14-21 days after therapy completion and assessed symptoms in 84 (79%) patients. Nineteen (18%) patients reported the development of a new symptom. Nurses independently managed 95% of the calls.

CONCLUSIONS

The majority of patients experienced symptoms in the immediate post-therapy period. Telephone follow-up interviews served as a mechanism for evaluating short-term morbidity and provided the opportunity for nurses to intervene with many patients.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

A nurse-managed telephone follow-up program can be used as a component of a quality improvement process in radiation centers to assess patients' post-treatment symptoms and provide education and support.