Use of Teach-Back During Informed Consent in Cancer Clinical Trials

Abstract

Five percent of the 1.8 million patients diagnosed with cancer in the United States (US) enroll annually in a clinical trial (American Cancer Society, 2021; Institute of Medicine Committee on Cancer Clinical Trials; National Cancer Institute Cooperative Group Program, 2010). Flawed research consent practices are detrimental to patient safety and costly to the US Healthcare system (Eisenberg et al., 2012; Unger et al., 2019). Well-trained nurses are imperative to conducting rigorous, reproducible, and quality research (Brandt et al., 2011). Programs designed to educate nurses on how to implement comprehensive communication strategies confidently during the Cancer Clinical Trials (CCT) consent process remain scarce (Nusbaum et al, 2019; Purdom et al., 2017). The purpose of this quality improvement project was to develop, implement, and evaluate the effects of an evidence-based education program on nurse confidence with the use of the teach-back method during the CCT consent process. An evidenced-based education program was developed. It was implemented as a synchronous webinar to members of the International Association of Clinical Research Nurses. Pre and post-test program surveys measuring confidence levels were disseminated. There was an overall increase in post-survey responses suggesting an improvement in confidence levels with the use of the teach-back method during the CCT IC process. Further study can explore if patient understanding of CCTs during the IC process is developed proportionally to levels of nurse confidence with the use of the teach-back method.