Author Identifier
Nicolas H. Hart: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2794-0193
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
European Journal of Oncology Nursing
Volume
73
PubMed ID
39522260
Publisher
Elsevier
School
Exercise Medicine Research Institute
RAS ID
77876
Funders
Princess Alexandra Research Foundation (RSS_2020_095) / National Health and Medical Research Council
Grant Number
NHMRC Numbers : APP1194051, APP2017080
Abstract
Purpose: Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is a prevalent and distressing symptom experienced by people affected by cancer. A breakdown of the clinician-patient partnership and suboptimal clinician communication has been identified as a significant barrier to implementing into clinical practice effective self-management strategies for CRF. This study examined the use and impact of communication practices employed by trained cancer nurse counsellors when providing CRF self-management support to cancer survivors. Methods: Interactions from 41 telehealth consultations between three nurse counsellors and 23 cancer survivors in a CRF self-management support clinic in Queensland, Australia were recorded and analysed using conversation analysis methods. Results: Analysis found that in instances where nurses established the agenda of a consultation from the outset of a session (e.g., focusing on fatigue self-management support), cancer survivors displayed clearer understandings of their self-management role, the tasks, and goals of a session; and displayed less difficulty engaging in supportive care discussions. Furthermore, clinicians used formulation practices, such as summarising dialogue, to sustain focus on fatigue during consultations, and to close discussion matters not ostensibly pertinent to fatigue self-management planning supporting the goals of the CRF SMS clinic consultations. Conclusion: For supportive care sessions targeting fatigue management, clinicians should ideally focus discussion on CRF support early, by clearly introducing the agenda at the outset of the consultation while also asking for client agreement. Periodically summarising patient's talk allows clinicians to maintain a focus on matters relevant for self-management fatigue planning and provide support within the typically constrained timeframes allocated for addressing CRF.
DOI
10.1016/j.ejon.2024.102726
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Agbejule, O. A., Ekberg, S., Hart, N. H., & Chan, R. J. (2024). Supporting cancer-related fatigue self-management: A conversation analytic study of nurse counsellor and cancer survivor consultations. European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejon.2024.102726