Pei-Hua Wu
Chi Mei Medical Center, Taiwan
Title: Effects of nurse navigators on health outcomes of lymphoma patients
Biography
Biography: Pei-Hua Wu
Abstract
Background: Lymphoma has the highest prevalence among all cancer types in Taiwan. Care coordination has received increased attention because it critically affects patient safety and care quality across services.
Objectives: This study examines and evaluates the effect that adopting a nurse navigator interventions for newly diagnosed lymphoma patients.
Methods: In this retrospective study, 212 lymphoma patients were recruited between January 2009 and December 2013. The experimental group comprised 115 patients who had received nurse navigator interventions. The nurse navigator coordinated the recruitment, liaison, care plan implementation, conducted disease education, telephone consultations, follow-ups, and evaluations. The control group comprised 97 lymphoma patients. The patients in the control group had similar characteristics to those in the experimental group, and received routine care.
Results: Adopting a nurse navigator interventions in lymphoma care increased patient follow-up appointment compliance rates at 3 months (p =0.007). The model also effectively reduced the patients’ 14-day readmission rate (p =0.05). Furthermore, these improvements were statistically significant. The results also indicated that the survival rate for patients receiving care from lymphoma. A nurse navigator interventions was superior to that of the control group receiving traditional care.
Conclusion: Adopting a anurse navigator interventions in lymphoma care effectively enhanced clinical treatment adherence, increased survival rates, and reduced the 14-day readmission rate. This study provides evidence that standardized nurse navigator programs can improve patient outcomes in cancer care.