The effect of nursing consultation on anxiety, side effects, and self-care of patients receiving radiation therapy.

This study examined the effect of nursing consultation sessions on anxiety, side effects experienced, and helpfulness of self-care strategies used by patients receiving radiation therapy. Based on Orem's self-care model, it was expected that subjects in the nursing consultation group would engage in more helpful self-care strategies, have fewer and less severe side effects, and be less anxious than subjects in the other groups. Using an experimental design, 56 subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups: control, health education, and nursing consultation. The Side Effects Profile (SEP) and Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were used to collect data. Although the study findings demonstrate no significant differences among groups on all variables, an important finding was that mean state-anxiety scores were consistently lower for the nursing consultation group. This finding suggests that nurses can have a positive impact on patient anxiety at a time when anxiety is often known to interfere with patients' well-being.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes