Evaluating a community nursing education program to support patients during chemotherapy treatment

Background: Patients receiving chemotherapy for cancer treatment frequently experience side effects such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea, which negatively impact their quality of life and survival outcomes. In this study, an education program was delivered to community nurses (CNs), who subsequently provided home-based side effect management support to patients receiving chemotherapy. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the education program designed to enhance CNs' knowledge of and confidence in providing chemotherapy side effect management support. Methods: This mixed-method study used surveys and interviews. The evaluation of program content and its delivery was reported using descriptive statistics. The pre- and post-education confidence levels were compared using a paired sample t-test. Interviews explored CNs' perspectives on the program's adequacy and appropriateness in building their knowledge and confidence in providing chemotherapy side effect management support. Findings: Sixty-five CNs completed the surveys. Overall, 69% (n = 45) rated the education program as either 'excellent' or 'very good'. A statistically significant improvement was found in mean item confidence from pre- (3.24, SD 0.72) to post-education (4.11, SD 0.42, P < 0.001). Two focus groups and seven individual interviews were conducted, involving a total of 17 CNs. Qualitative content analysis revealed two themes: (i) CNs' opinions on the program content and its mode of delivery, and (ii) CNs' opinions on the adequacy of the education program in building their knowledge and confidence in chemotherapy side effect management. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the acceptability and feasibility of delivering an education program to enhance CNs' knowledge and confidence in supporting patients undergoing chemotherapy. (c) 2024 Australian College of Nursing Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).