Background: Lymphoma has the highest prevalence among all cancer types in Taiwan. Care coordination has received increased attention because it critically affects patient safety and care quality across services.
Objectives: To examine and evaluate the effect of adopting a nurse navigator intervention for newly diagnosed lymphoma patients.
Methods: In this retrospective study, 212 lymphoma patients were recruited between January 2009 and December 2013. The experimental group comprised 115 patients who had received nurse navigator interventions. The nurse navigator coordinated the recruitment, liaison, and care plan implementation and conducted disease education, telephone consultations, follow-ups, and evaluations. The control group comprised 97 lymphoma patients. The patients in the control group had similar characteristics to those in the experimental group and received routine care.
Results: Adopting nurse navigator intervention in lymphoma care increased patient follow-up appointment compliance rates at 3 months (P = .007). The model also effectively reduced the patients’ 14-day readmission rate (P = .05). Furthermore, these improvements were statistically significant. The results also indicated an increased survival rate for patients receiving care for lymphoma. The nurse navigator intervention was superior to the traditional care received by the control group.
Conclusion: Adopting nurse navigator intervention in lymphoma care effectively enhanced clinical treatment adherence, increased survival rates, and reduced the 14-day readmission rate. This study provides evidence that standardized nurse navigator programs can improve patient outcomes in cancer care.