Authors (including presenting author) :
Tse MW(1), Yuen YS(1), Lam HC(1), Cheng HY(1), Tsang WY(1), Liu CW(1), C K Kwan (1)
Affiliation :
(1) Clinical oncology, United Christian Hospital
Introduction :
Prostate cancer patients are usually elderly. They may not be fully aware of the whole treatment plan and the importance of compliance to treatment. As a result, they may miss the LHRHa injections. As non-compliance is associated with poor treatment outcomes, increased hospitalization rate, lower quality of life, and higher overall healthcare costs. The aim of this enhancement program is to enhance their compliance to medications for various stages of their cancer.
Objectives :
To provide holistic care and support along patient journeys in the following areas:
1. To educate patients with better understand on the treatment plan.
2. To educate patients to come back on scheduled appointment date to receive LHRHa injections.
3. To improve compliance rate of LHRHa injections.
4. To develop patient-nurse rapport.
Methodology :
The enhancement program included the following strategies for prostate cancer patients requiring radical or palliative treatment with more than one dose of LHRHa:
1. OPAS codes were created for better recording of the end points.
2. Quota of the above codes have been set on each follow-up session.
3. A tailored Medication Administration Record (MAR) was created.
4. Patient treatment reminder was created for overview of treatment plan.
5. Review on online videos for the preparation and injection techniques to maintain nursing standard.
6. Template creation in CMS for better documentation.
Result & Outcome :
1. 48 patients with age ranging from 60 to 85 were well-educated on treatment plan with positive feedback, resulting in 46 of them (96%) able to follow and complete the treatment of schedule. The 2 patients failed because of other medical problem.
2. 120 patients have appointment of injection without consultation. 116 of them received injection on the scheduled appointment date. 4 patients missed the
appointment date were received the follow-up call to complete the injection, resulting in 100% injection rate. Before this plan was executed, missed patients could not be followed, resulting in poor treatment outcome.
The benefits of this program could be summarized as follows:
1. Increased patient engagement and compliance – Patients were well-educated and more engaged in the treatment plan, resulting in high compliance and improved treatment outcomes.
2. As all injections were arranged by the booking system, the daily injection quota and manpower could be better controlled. This could reduce the workload of nurses
and waiting time of patients.
3. The professional knowledge of oncology nurses was enhanced. Nurses who involved in injection have learnt the skill and different methods for preparing the LHRHa.
