Effectiveness of a psycho-oncology training program for oncology nurses: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: Oncology nurses are expected to play an important role in psychosocial care for cancer patients. The aim of this study was to examine whether a novel training program aimed at enhancing oncology nurses' ability to assess and manage common psychological problems in cancer patients would improve participants' self-reported confidence, knowledge, and attitudes regarding care of patients with common psychological problems (trial register: UMIN000008559). METHODS: Oncology nurses were assigned randomly to either the intervention group (N = 50) or the waiting list control group (N = 46). The intervention group received a 16-h program, the content of which focused on four psychological issues: normal reactions, clinically significant distress, suicidal thoughts, and delirium. Each session included a role-play exercise, group work, and didactic lecture regarding assessment and management of each problem. Primary outcomes were changes in self-reported confidence, knowledge, and attitudes toward the common psychological problems between pre-intervention and 3 months post-intervention. Secondary outcomes were job-related stress and burnout. Intervention acceptability to participants was also assessed. RESULTS: In the intervention group, confidence and knowledge but not attitudes were significantly improved relative to the control group. No significant intervention effects were found for job- related stress and burnout. A high percentage (98%) of participants considered the program useful in clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS: This psycho-oncology training program improved oncology nurses' confidence and knowledge regarding care for patients with psychological problems. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Collaboration of perioperative management in an adult patient with 22 q 11.2 deletion syndrome: A case report.

A 24-year-old woman diagnosed with 22 q 11.2 deletion syndrome was referred for multiple extractions. Due to the syndrome, the patient had schizophrenia, cardiac anomalies, and maxillofacial complications. This case report suggested that a multidisciplinary team approach is important for perioperative management of patients with 22 q 11.2 deletion syndrome.

[Depression screening test for patients with metastatic gastric and colorectal cancer].

The prevalence of depression has been reported to be higher in cancer patients, especially those of advanced stage, compared to normal controls. However, depression is often under-recognized in clinical oncology settings. And this psychological problem is not routinely assessed even in patients with inoperable metastatic cancer who often have psychological disorders. Psychological distress including depression, is affected by physical, psychosocial, and clinical factors. In order to detect psychiatric problems at the early stage, we assessed the mental conditions of 47 inpatients with metastatic gastric and colorectal cancerusing the Japanese version of Zung's Self Rating Depression Scale(SDS)and analyzed the relationships between these factors and SDS scores. While SDS scores of our patients did not differ according to their gender, age, performance status (PS), ortypes of patients' character, they were significantly higher in Group B(cancer patients with palliative care alone), compared to Group A(those receiving chemotherapy)(p<0. 001). As the disease in the four identical patients progressed to the terminal stage, their scores were significantly increased, respectively(p<0. 05). These results suggest that psychological intervention should be more critical for terminally ill patients without any indication of chemotherapy.