• Christelle Remy, Joyce Borniard, and Jordi Perez.
• Cancer Pain Clinic, McGill University Health Centre, Cedars Cancer Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• Pain Manag Nurs. 2020 Jun 1; 21 (3): 255-258.

BackgroundA key to successful symptom management in patients with cancer is to adapt the treatment to patient needs and complexities in an individual and dynamic manner. Rapid access to a clinician via telephone consultation supports treatment compliance, safety, and effectiveness and reduces the number of patients unnecessarily consulting emergency departments.AimsTo define the role of a cancer pain nurse in the management of unscheduled phone calls to the clinic.DesignThe study is a retrospective analysis of unscheduled phone calls received at an outpatient cancer pain clinic. Details collected included caller identification, reasons for the call, and interventions provided. Actions taken after analysis of the nature of calls are discussed.SettingsRetrospective chart analysis.Participants/SubjectsMedical charts of patients seen at the cancer pain clinic.MethodsDuring three consecutive months, 102 unscheduled telephone calls fulfilling research criteria were analyzed. Seventy-four percent were initiated by patients or carers. In 46% and 45% of the calls, respectively, the reason for the call was to report a symptom or concern about the treatment.ResultsPain was the most common reported symptom (59.6%) followed by side effects (23.4%). The most frequent inquiry about medications concerned renewal of prescriptions (47.8%). The most common intervention was related to patients' treatments (74.5%), and it included an element of teaching in 51.3% of calls. In one third of cases, a prescription was changed after the call. The nurse was able to provide the intervention without involving a doctor in 87.3% of calls. Several changes were initiated after the analysis to decrease unnecessary calls to the nurse.ConclusionsA telephone call service available for patients and other clinicians is an efficient way to enhance continuity of care for ambulatory patients. Continued efforts to make such a service cost effective must be implemented.Copyright © 2019 American Society for Pain Management Nursing. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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