Poster Presentation Cancer Survivorship Conference 2023

Evaluation of a specialist nurse-led survivorship consultation in a gynae-oncology service (#133)

Nicole Kinnane 1 2 , Anna Beaumont 1 , Danielle Carpenter 3 , Eliza Bailey 3 , Tracey Mander 1 , Helana Kelly 1 , Michael Jefford 1 4 5
  1. Australian Cancer Survivorship Centre, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Vic, Australia
  2. Gynaecology Services, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  3. Gynaecology Services, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  4. Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  5. Department of Health Services Research, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Background

The gynae-oncology service at Peter Mac has an established specialist-nurse-led survivorship clinic. Three to six months after completing treatment with curative intent, women attend the nurse-led consultation, which aims to address unmet supportive care needs, provide a survivorship care plan (SCP) and customised information. We sought to evaluate patient perspectives of the service.

Methods

A purpose-designed online survey assessed satisfaction with the service, perceived value and appropriateness using Likert scale, limited option and free text questions. All women who attended the clinic within the previous 15 months were sent a survey link via text message without reminders. Being a quality assurance project, ethics approval was not sought.

Results

Thirty-nine women completed the survey (33% RR), majority diagnosed with endometrial cancer (82% 32/39), with a mean age of 66yrs (range 41-79). Majority (80%, 29/36) agreed or strongly agreed the consultation provided a unique opportunity to discuss concerns and needs (80%, 29/36), helped them understand life after cancer (77%, 30/39) and provided information/tools to better manage their health (81%, 30/37). Majority (82%, 31/38) rated the nurse-led consultation four or five stars (scale 1-5), felt they had sufficient time to discuss symptoms and concerns (69%, 27/39), with half (18/36) wanting further nurse-led consultations to discuss needs/concerns post-treatment. Most (71%, 27/38) reported receiving a SCP. Of these, 81% (22/27) agreed or strongly agreed the SCP was useful, 78% (21/27) re-visited the information and 70% (19/27) had discussed the SCP with their GP or intended to. Free text comments indicated women would feel lost and have unanswered questions if the service did not exist.

Conclusions

Results indicate the specialist-nurse-led survivorship consultation is a highly rated opportunity for women to have post-treatment needs/concerns addressed, and the SCP a useful information tool. Scheduled nurse-led consultations at more than one time point warrants consideration.