Authors (including presenting author) :
TSOI SY, CHOW CM, HO PS, Law WK, WONG MC, Mui WH
Affiliation :
Clinical Oncology, Tuen Mun Hospital
Introduction :
Nearly all anticancer agents have the potential to initiate infusion reactions (IRs). IRs cause a massive amount of anxiety and stress to patients and healthcare workers. Treatment of IRs requires additional resources and additional time in the hospital while medical staff needs to spend extra time to manage patients having IRs. All these contribute to the significant economic impact. Although severe IRs are rare, mild reactions have the potential to rapidly develop into life-threatening incidents. Hence, it is mandatory for oncology clinics to develop systematic management strategies to deal with IRs.
Objectives :
(1) To improve the knowledge and competence of nursing staff in the management of IRs (2) To establish patient education materials in IRs to facilitate prevention and early recognition of IRs
Methodology :
For staff training, a YouTube video of the nursing management of IRs was created by extracting and embracing the most up-to-date international and local guidelines. The video was shared with all the novice nursing staff who have less than 2 years of experience in oncology nursing without having any specialty training. Pre-and post-questionnaires were used for evaluation; for patient education, a Chinese version of a pamphlet and a YouTube video was produced to facilitate limited face-to-face verbal education about IRs to patients. Post questionnaire was used for evaluation.
Result & Outcome :
For staff training, 9 novice nurses, 4RN & 5EN, watched the video and completed the questionnaires. the novice’s knowledge of the management of IRs was significantly improved both subjectively and objectively. For the subjective data, the mean score increased from 2.4/5 (pre-questionnaire, ranged from 1/5 (min score) to 3/5 (max score) to 4.33/5 (post-questionnaire, ranging from 4/5 (min score) to 5/5 (max score)), while the objective data also showed the similar findings, the mean score increased from 4.2/8 (pre-test) to 8/8 (post-test). The novice’s confidence in the management of patients with IRs showed a remarkable increase from 2.22/5 (pre-questionnaire, ranging from 1/5 (min score) to 3/5 (max score) to 4/5 (post-questionnaire, all rated 4/5). The mean scores of all descriptive indicators on the educational video were above 4 out of 5. The majority of the participants agreed that the contents of the video were clear and well-organized. Positive feedback on enhancing clinical practice and knowledge of the management of patients with IRs was expressed; for patient education, 69 pieces of post-questionnaires were completed. The mean scores of all descriptive indicators on the education pamphlet and video were both above 4 out of 5, ranging from 3/5 (min score) to 5/5 (max score) with a low standard deviation (SD) for each indicator, SD ranged from 0.66 to 0.73 for the pamphlet and 0.58 to 0.63 for the video. Positive feedback on enhancing knowledge of the management of IRs was expressed. Around 90% of respondents expressed their wish to receive educational materials on other cancer-related topics.
