Recognizing Distress in Cancer Patients in Day Hospital, by Trained Nurses vs. Non Trained Nurses: A Pilot Study

Background: Cancer can cause psychological distress in 35-40% of patients, influencing their quality of life, adherence to treatment, and relationships with medical staff. Nurses have an important role in monitoring and addressing psychological distress, but they often lack the competencies needed to refer patients for appropriate psycho-social con-sultations. Objective: To evaluate the impact that trained nurses have on the detection of distress and the timely referral of patients for a Psycho-oncology consult. Methods: Blind, random, descriptive, monocentric pilot study. The participants were adult patients in Day Hospital 1 of the National Cancer Institute Regina Elena of Rome, irrespective of illness stage. Tools used included a socio-demographic and clinical data form, Distress Ther-mometer (DT), and Visual Analogic Scale (VAS). Patients were randomly divided into two groups: Group A, where questionnaires were administered by trained nurses, and Group B, where non-trained nurses administered questionnaires. Nurses indicated if patients needed a Psycho-oncology consult. All patients were then seen by a psycho-oncology specialist to determine if the nurse's referral was appropriate. Both patients and Psy-cho-oncologists were unaware of the nurses' training status. The effectiveness of the training was measured by the degree of agreement between evaluators. Results: The study involved 20 patients and four nurses. The average DT score was 5, mainly related to physical and emotional problems. Agreement between evaluators was higher in the trained nurses ‘group. Conclusions: Specific training on DT has enabled nurses to acquire advanced skills to accurately refer patients to psychological consultations.