1117 - Improving Radiation Oncology Nursing Competence through a Structured, Needs-Based Education Initiative

Purpose/Objective(s): Radiation oncology nurses require specialty knowledge of complex radiation principles and disease-site specific expertise to provide high quality patient education. In a multi-campus ambulatory radiation program, cross-coverage requires nurses to support patients outside their primary subspecialty. This performance improvement initiative evaluated baseline educational needs and measured pre/post intervention outcomes following implementation of a structured radiation oncology nursing curriculum.

Materials/Methods: A learning needs assessment using validated Likert-scale survey questions was distributed to radiation oncology nurses across a National Cancer Institute designated center to assess nursing confidence. A structured curriculum of monthly education sessions was developed directly from identified needs and implemented across all campuses. Pre- and post-session surveys measured confidence (percent strongly agree/agree) and knowledge (percent correct). Patient satisfaction metrics were tracked concurrently.

Results: Twenty three nurses completed the baseline assessment. Overall nursing experience was =7 years for 74% of respondents; 44% reported =4 years of radiation oncology experience. At baseline, 69.5% reported not confident when educating patients outside their primary subspecialty. For acute toxicity management, 59% reported not confident or somewhat confident; for long term toxicity management, 73.9% reported not confident or somewhat confident. No disease site exceeded 58% confidence. Lowest confidence was reported for hematologic malignancies (82.6% not confident), sarcoma (60.9%), and palliative radiation (63.6% not confident). Additionally, 96% reported limited understanding of foundational radiation principles. Across four education sessions, post-intervention confidence increased from baseline ranges of 10-55% to 79-100% strongly agree/agree across all domains. Knowledge assessment scores increased from 0-50% pre intervention to 82-100% post intervention across foundational radiation concepts. Patient satisfaction scores remained stable throughout implementation, with nursing related domains consistently in the mid to high 90s across all campuses.

Conclusion: Implementation of a structured radiation nursing curriculum resulted in measurable improvements in nurse knowledge and confidence across multiple educational domains while maintaining high patient satisfaction in a multi-campus ambulatory program.