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Cancer rehabilitation in clinical practice : a qualitative study exploring contact nurses’ views on prerequisites

Melander, Wenche LU orcid ; Rosell, Linn LU orcid ; Larsson, Anna Maria LU ; Lagergren, Pernilla and Malmström, Marlene LU orcid (2025) In BMC Nursing 24.
Abstract

Background: Individualized cancer rehabilitation should be an integral part of cancer care. Contact nurses play a key role in identifying patient needs and coordinating evidence-based interventions to support rehabilitation. However, cancer rehabilitation remains marginal in current practice, as contact nurses face challenges due to the lack of systematic processes for assessment, intervention, and follow-up, limiting its implementation across the cancer care trajectory. This study aims to explore contact nurses in cancer care views on their role in and prerequisites for cancer rehabilitation. Methods: Data were collected through 20 individual interviews with contact nurses working in Swedish cancer care and analyzed using qualitative... (More)

Background: Individualized cancer rehabilitation should be an integral part of cancer care. Contact nurses play a key role in identifying patient needs and coordinating evidence-based interventions to support rehabilitation. However, cancer rehabilitation remains marginal in current practice, as contact nurses face challenges due to the lack of systematic processes for assessment, intervention, and follow-up, limiting its implementation across the cancer care trajectory. This study aims to explore contact nurses in cancer care views on their role in and prerequisites for cancer rehabilitation. Methods: Data were collected through 20 individual interviews with contact nurses working in Swedish cancer care and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: A holistic approach to cancer rehabilitation was emphasized, yet establishing routines for assessment and addressing patients’ changing needs was described as challenging. Contact nurses experienced themselves as responsible for rehabilitation even though their role often was unclear. Rehabilitation was further seen as a process often determined by the medical trajectory rather than patients’ needs. To establish prerequisites for cancer rehabilitation supportive leadership and sufficient resources is essential. Conclusion: There is a gap between cancer rehabilitation guidelines and their implementation in clinical practice, emphasizing the need for structure to support contact nurses to provide evidence-based individualized cancer rehabilitation. To enable cancer rehabilitation, supportive leadership at the organizational level is essential for contact nurses to establish routines in their clinical practice. These routines should align the rehabilitation process with patient needs, ensuring that rehabilitative services are effectively integrated into regular healthcare visits. Clinical trial number: Not applicable.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cancer care, Needs, Nursing, Qualitative, Rehabilitation
in
BMC Nursing
volume
24
article number
223
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85219622098
  • pmid:40016784
  • pmid:40016784
ISSN
1472-6955
DOI
10.1186/s12912-025-02866-8
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2025.
id
588631f7-f2cb-4618-999c-a6222f78eb1c
date added to LUP
2025-05-12 11:33:32
date last changed
2025-08-18 21:00:11
@article{588631f7-f2cb-4618-999c-a6222f78eb1c,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Individualized cancer rehabilitation should be an integral part of cancer care. Contact nurses play a key role in identifying patient needs and coordinating evidence-based interventions to support rehabilitation. However, cancer rehabilitation remains marginal in current practice, as contact nurses face challenges due to the lack of systematic processes for assessment, intervention, and follow-up, limiting its implementation across the cancer care trajectory. This study aims to explore contact nurses in cancer care views on their role in and prerequisites for cancer rehabilitation. Methods: Data were collected through 20 individual interviews with contact nurses working in Swedish cancer care and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: A holistic approach to cancer rehabilitation was emphasized, yet establishing routines for assessment and addressing patients’ changing needs was described as challenging. Contact nurses experienced themselves as responsible for rehabilitation even though their role often was unclear. Rehabilitation was further seen as a process often determined by the medical trajectory rather than patients’ needs. To establish prerequisites for cancer rehabilitation supportive leadership and sufficient resources is essential. Conclusion: There is a gap between cancer rehabilitation guidelines and their implementation in clinical practice, emphasizing the need for structure to support contact nurses to provide evidence-based individualized cancer rehabilitation. To enable cancer rehabilitation, supportive leadership at the organizational level is essential for contact nurses to establish routines in their clinical practice. These routines should align the rehabilitation process with patient needs, ensuring that rehabilitative services are effectively integrated into regular healthcare visits. Clinical trial number: Not applicable.</p>}},
  author       = {{Melander, Wenche and Rosell, Linn and Larsson, Anna Maria and Lagergren, Pernilla and Malmström, Marlene}},
  issn         = {{1472-6955}},
  keywords     = {{Cancer care; Needs; Nursing; Qualitative; Rehabilitation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC Nursing}},
  title        = {{Cancer rehabilitation in clinical practice : a qualitative study exploring contact nurses’ views on prerequisites}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-02866-8}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s12912-025-02866-8}},
  volume       = {{24}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}