Using the self-report auxiliary sheet to improve the complete rate of chemotherapy side effects assessment

Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to treat cancer. However, the drugs cannot distinguish between normal cells and cancer cells, resulting in the destruction of healthy cells and side effects. The side effects of chemotherapy will not only reduce the quality of life of patients but also reduce compliance with treatment. Medical staff can timely give individual interventions against side effects, which can improve the efficacy of treatment. The study aimed to use the self-report auxiliary sheet to improve the complete rate of chemotherapy side effects assessment.

From August 2021 to November 2021, the total number of chemotherapy patients in this ward is 255. In a cross-sectional survey, the lower completion rate (78.7%) of chemotherapy side effects assessment was determined in the ward of a teaching hospital in northern Taiwan at that time. Through the cause and effect analysis and root cause analysis in the lower completion rate of chemotherapy side effects assessment, the influence factors were that nurses did not follow the standard nursing procedure of chemotherapy side effects assessment. When assessing side effects, nurses need to confirm common side effects with patients item by item. The common side effects included fever, nausea or vomiting, oral mucositis, loss of appetite, diarrhea, constipation, hair loss, headache, skin rash, pain at the injection site, allergies, hematuria, depression, hearing loss, etc. Due to the many side effect evaluation items, it is easy to cause incomplete evaluation by patients and nurses. Therefore, we designed the self-report chemotherapy side effects auxiliary sheet. When the patient admission to our ward, we will tell them the auxiliary sheet on how to use it and let them know, the side effects including which items, and need to tell caregivers immediately.

Four hundred sixty patients were studied in this study from July 2022 to December 2022. The completion rate of chemotherapy side effects assessment increased significantly from 78.7% to 96.3%.

The results represented that this intervention was the benefit of increasing the Completion Rate of chemotherapy side effects assessment to improve chemotherapy patient safety. It can also empower patients to work together for chemotherapy care quality.