Abstract
Background: The increase in the use of oral cancer drugs implies that nurses take on new roles for which education and support to patients and family members become fundamental for promoting therapeutic adherence.
Objective: To describe the patients' and nurses' perceptions on the effectiveness of the educational process in oral cancer treatment.
Methods: A mixed method with a convergent design was used. Data were collected using a questionnaire (structured according to the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer Teaching Tool for Patients Receiving Oral Agents for Cancer guidelines) and semistructured interviews with patients. Focus groups were used with the nurses. Quantitative data were analyzed with SPSS 22.0 (IBM SPSS 22.0, Armonk, New York). Qualitative data were analyzed using semantic analysis.
Results: One hundred forty-two questionnaires were analyzed. Patients were usually informed by physicians and nurses (81%), alone (33%) or in the presence of an informal carer (29.6%). Language comprehension was high, with a significant difference between those 70 years or older (P = .04) and those younger than 70 years. From the interviews (n = 16), 3 themes were identified: emotions during communication, feeling reassured by the presence of family members and nurses, feeling welcomed and an active part of the educational process. Three themes were identified from the focus groups (n = 4): prerequisites for an effective therapeutic education, nurses' skills, and educational process barriers.
Conclusions: Overall, patients were satisfied with the education received. They perceived nurses as people who can help them understand the information they have received and manage their treatment and adverse effects.
Implications for Practice: This study highlighted some important points for an effective educational process: having a nurse to refer to, technical relationship competences, joint visits with physicians, and being available by phone.