Patient education in oncology: Training project for nurses of the “Regina Elena” National Cancer Institute of Rome (Italy)

Abstract

Patient education (PE) could support cancer patients, allowing them to take an active role in the treatment process. Nurses play a predominant role in the patient's educational process. Therefore, the aim of the project was to train them in PE to provide the essential tools to support the patient's self-efficacy and self-care skills for four of the most common types of problems in oncology: chronic pain, entero-urostomy, tracheostomy, and cancer-related fatigue. A pilot study was conducted at an IRCSS (Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization, and Healthcare) in Rome, during which training sessions in PE were carried out for nurses. The participants were divided into four groups, each of which was assigned one of the four problems examined. The training sessions were evaluated by expressing a degree of satisfaction using a five-point Likert scale. The learning was evaluated by analyzing the didactic material developed and the proposals of the educational projects. A total of 18 nurses were enrolled. The event was defined by the nurses as very satisfactory for the “relevance of the topics,” the “educational quality of the course,” and the “usefulness of the event.” Finally, each group made a proposal for an educational project divided into eight learning units. PE represents a difficult challenge for operators due to the heterogeneity of patients and the different degree of acceptance of the disease. It is essential to experiment with new skills that facilitate the patient's learning and adaptation to the disease.