Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education
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Breaking bad news is 1 of cancer specialists' most common and difficult duties, yet hematology-oncology fellowship programs typically offer little formal preparation for this daunting task. We designed the Breaking Bad News Standardized Patient Intervention (BBNSPI) as a standardized patient educational intervention to improve the communication skills of hematology-oncology fellows (HOFs) and advanced practice nurses (APNs) in breaking bad news to cancer patients. ⋯ BBNSPI improved HOFs' and APNs' communication skills in breaking bad news to cancer patients. The perception of the subjects about BBNSPI was positive.