Innovative Cancer Follow-Up with Telehealth: A New Method for Oncology Nurses.

OBJECTIVES: Telenavigation (TN) is an innovative cancer follow-up method for oncology nurses. Little is known about the effectiveness of tele-navigation on cancer patients. This study investigated the opinions of healthcare providers (HCPs) and colorectal cancer patients' experience regarding patient follow-up with TN. DATA SOURCES: This is a phenomenological qualitative study. Semistructured interviews were conducted with fifteen patients and eight healthcare providers. Participants were selected by purposive sampling. Data were collected from March to October 2022 and analyzed by thematic content analysis. CONCLUSION: Six themes emerged that described the experiences of TN: (1) beneficial; (2) psychological state; (3) level of knowledge, (4) technology, (5) health care system, and (6) recommendations. Patients and HCPs found TN practice helpful and reassuring and they recommended expanding these practices within the health system. As a result of the research, the TN program is described as beneficial to patients and healthcare providers. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: The TN follow-up is a beneficial implication for colorectal cancer patients undergoing treatment, and it deserves to be more widely deployed. It brings reassurance regarding psychological, reliable data access, and home follow-up. Patients and HCPs reported positive views on telephone follow-up. There is a recommendation that the innovative follow-up technique should be disseminated to the healthcare system and that cancer nurses should be more familiar with this method.

Colorectal cancer screening: understanding the needs of the pre-screening group.

OBJECTIVES: For the last three decades, although colorectal cancer incidence has been decreasing in those over 50 years of age, it has been increasing in those under 50 included in the pre-screening group (PSG). The present study aims to explain the screening-related factors and compliance of individuals in PSG who are not included in the colorectal cancer screening programme. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 323 participants, 143 of whom were from the pre-screening group (40-49 years), and 180 from the screening included group (SIG) (50-70 years). RESULTS: Individuals included in PSG were more likely to have accepted that both faecal occult blood test (FOBT) (2.23 ± 1.22 vs. 1.89 ± 1.33, p = 0.018) and colonoscopy (2.37 ± 0.97 vs. 2.02 ± 1.14, p = 0.003) were useful and suitable screening tests in colorectal cancer. Adequate health literacy (OR = 4.3, 95% CI: 1.8-10.0, p = 0.001) and better education level (OR = 3.3, 95% CI: 1.3-8.4, p = 0.010) were factors of increased knowledge of colorectal cancer screening. CONCLUSIONS: The findings show that PSG has different characteristics than SIG and may be more fitting in the colorectal cancer screening programme if included.

Early integration of palliative care among cancer patients: The perspective of oncology nurses in Turkey.

OBJECTIVE: Cancer is a disease that threatens the life of patients and causes chronic health problems and many symptoms that affect their quality of life. For this reason, patients must be followed up in palliative care units, where they can receive more comprehensive care from the diagnosis stage. This study was conducted to evaluate the views and knowledge level of oncology nurses in the integration of early palliative care among cancer patients. METHOD: A hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study design of the research was employed to gather data from 106 nurses working in different areas of oncology in hospitals located in different cities in country from March to May 2021. RESULTS: Nurses' total scores on the Palliative Care Knowledge Test differed significantly by age, years of working in the profession, the unit worked and the working time in the unit (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The results of the study showed that the nurses' knowledge of palliative care was above the moderate level. The nurses with high knowledge scores advocated the need for early integration of palliative care. Moreover, the results also indicated that there is a need to increase the educational level of nurses in palliative care.

Validity and Reliability of the Instruments to Measure Colorectal Cancer Screening Benefits and Barriers-Turkish Version.

BACKGROUND: Perceptions of benefits and barriers are important determinants in understanding colorectal cancer screening (CRCS) behaviors. There is a need for standardized Turkish tools that measure the benefits and barriers of fecal occult blood test (FOBT) and colonoscopy (COL). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the "Instruments to Measure CRCS Benefits and Barriers." METHODS: This methodological study was carried out in 2 stages in primary care and in 394 adults between the ages of 50 and 70 years. In the first stage, some items of the scales demonstrated low/unacceptable corrected item-total and factor loadings, and in the second stage, it was decided to add emoji-based facial scales, which include emoji expressions. RESULTS: Results with the emoji-based facial scales included internal consistency coefficients of 0.85 for FOBT benefits, 0.79 for FOBT barriers, 0.84 for COL benefits, and 0.86 for COL barriers; the item-total correlations of FOBT varied between 0.39 and 0.73, whereas those of COL varied between 0.38 and 0.76. The factor loadings of all items were higher than 0.40. CONCLUSIONS: The emoji-based facial scale for CRC Screening Benefits and Barriers is a valid and reliable tool for measuring the benefits and barriers perceptions of 50- to 70-year-old Turkish adults. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The Instruments to Measure CRCS Benefits and Barriers-Turkish version can provide insights for nurses and healthcare professionals to understand individuals' perceived FOBT and COL benefits and barriers and to develop effective interventions to increase CRCS rates.

Readiness for Health Information Technology is Associated to Information Security in Healthcare Institutions.

BACKGROUND: Health information technologies (HITs) present numerous opportunities for the improvement and transformation of healthcare, which include reducing human errors, improving clinical outcomes, facilitating care coordination, improving efficiency of practice and tracking data over time. HITs involve various technologies that range from simple charting, to a more advanced decision support and integration with medical technology. OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to examine the readiness for the implementation of health information technologies (HITs) among medical and administrative staff as well as to evaluate the effects of information security status on the readiness. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 236 medical employees (F/M: 192/44; mean age: 34±7.43 years) and 139 administrative employees (F/M: 93/46, mean age: 36±7.64 years) from 15 public health institutions in Kocaeli, Marmara Region were included. The data were collected via a structured questionnaire regarding opinions about information security and privacy, use of information technologies and the Organizational Information Technology Innovation Readiness Scale (OITIRS). After an explanatory factor analysis was performed for the scale, two subgroups regarding Organizational Readiness and Technological Readiness were obtained. Binary logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate related factors for these subgroups of OITIRS. RESULTS: According to binary logistic regression analysis, establishing of a password management system was found to be a crucial factor for both organizational and technological readiness among medical and administrative employees in health institutions (p<0.05). The enhancement of collaboration among staff by implementing information technologies was a critical factor for the medical staff; whereas, the attitude of employees to ensure information security was an important factor for the administrative employees in both subgroups (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Both medical and administrative unit employees stated that establishing a password management system that determines the frequency of changing passwords in the organization would affect both organizational and technical readiness in healthcare institutions.