Rapport between nurses and adult patients with cancer in ambulatory oncology care settings: A scoping review

Abstract

Background: Although the importance of the nurse-patient relationship in oncology is established, a consolidated body of research describing nurse-patient rapport, especially in ambulatory care, is lacking.

Objectives: This scoping review aimed to explore knowledge about rapport between adult patients with cancer and their nurses in ambulatory oncology care, including nurse, patient, nurse-patient dyad, and system-level factors that influence rapport.

Methods: A scoping review was conducted to explore sources of evidence and gaps in knowledge pertinent to future research. The Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for Systematic Reviews was used with searches in MEDLINE, CINAHL, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global databases. Experimental, descriptive observational, and qualitative study designs that focused on patients with cancer and their nurses within an ambulatory care setting were included. Results were reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews.

Results: The search strategy collected 4538 studies of which 10 met study criteria after screening. Forward and backward citation tracking of included articles resulted in 4 additional studies. In total, 14 studies were extracted and analyzed. Synthesis of results from the individual sources resulted in three key observations: (a) there is an absence of studies that focus directly on nurse-patient rapport; (b) the majority of extracted data on rapport-related factors described aspects of nurses' attitudes; and (c) there was minimal information on patient, nurse-patient dyad, and system-level factors reported in these studies.

Conclusions: The lack of studies focused specifically on nurse-patient rapport in oncology ambulatory care indicates a notable gap in our empirical understanding of relationship-based care, a hallmark of cancer care provision.

Tweetable abstract: Nurse-patient rapport in oncology ambulatory care requires additional research @paula_koppel.

Keywords: Ambulatory care; Nurse–patient relations; Oncology nursing; Systematic review.