Introduction/Purpose: Educating patients is a critical nursing skill. Patient education is particularly important when initiating a new anti-cancer medication regimen. The standardization of anti-cancer medication patient education is imperative to ensure that all patients receive sufficient and consistent education. Standardizing this process creates a more cohesive clinic environment and satisfying experience for the patients. Despite the benefits of standardized education for this population, many clinics are lacking in this process. This process improvement project aimed to improve patient satisfaction through a standardized anti-cancer medication patient education process at a freestanding hematology and oncology clinic in the southeastern United States.

Methods: A standardized anti-cancer medication patient education plan was created and implemented for all new oncology patients who were willing to participate. Patients were asked to complete an established Likert-style patient satisfaction survey prior to and after the standardized education process for comparison.

Results: A mixed ANOVA was conducted to examine satisfaction ratings pre- and post-education. The analysis revealed a statistically significant, large main effect of satisfaction, F (1, 8) = 17.79, p = .003, 𝜂2 = .69, such that satisfaction ratings were higher post-education (M = 3.16) compared to pre-education (M = 1.10). There was not a significant main effect of gender, F (1, 8) = 1.37, p = .275, 𝜂2 = .15, and no significant interaction between satisfaction ratings and gender, F (1, 8) = 1.22, p = .301, 𝜂2 = .13.

Discussion: Providing standardized patient education for oncology patients who are initiating a new anti-cancer medication regimen is critical for enhancing adherence, safety, and satisfaction with the overall clinical experience. The results of this project show improved patient satisfaction scores following a standardized education process.