Changing Nursing Practice in Survivorship Care With Clinical Decision Tools

The paradigm shift to include survivorship care as part of the cancer care continuum underscores the critical need for a change in nursing practice. One way to ensure that change in practice is delivered in a safe and efficient manner is through the use of clinical decision tools (CDTs). Such tools can be used to increase relevant knowledge and skills of nurses and patients. Despite the widespread recognition of their value, CDTs to educate providers on cancer survivors’ care are limited and, when available, often are not used. Clinical practice algorithms were developed for disease-specific survivorship clinics in a cancer academic center. This article reviews the conceptual framework of the survivorship algorithms, describes the application of the algorithms in multidisciplinary disease-specific survivorship clinics, and discusses the implementation strategies used to promote clinicians’ adoption and implementation of the algorithms.

At a Glance

• The authors found that algorithms can be successfully used as clinical decision tools (CDTs) to deliver survivorship care.
• Algorithms and other CDTs are powerful tools to enhance professional practice.
• Additional studies are needed to assess their effect on clinical practice and survivor outcomes.