An audit of patient satisfaction with uro‐oncology nurse specialists – a questionnaire study

Specialist nurses have an established role in the management of urological cancer in helping patients to understand their disease and treatment options and in offering counselling and emotional support. There is evidence to suggest that patients who see the nurse specialist express more satisfaction and have less anxiety than those who see junior doctors. Other studies have found that the specialist nurses’ clinical expertise compared favourably with that of other clinicians. This audit aimed to assess the patient satisfaction with uro-oncology nurse specialists and their nurse-led clinics. One hundred, 15-point patient satisfaction questionnaires were sent to new and existing patients with urological cancer who had been randomly identified by the uro-oncology nurse specialist. The questions were concerned with the provision of information to patients and with the satisfaction of the nurse specialist service. The results showed that patients found contact with the uro-oncology nurse specialist supportive, informative and beneficial to their treatment. The authors felt that raising the profile of the uro-oncology nurse specialist would be beneficial to patient treatment and care.