Collaboration of Diagnostic Test Results by Palliative Care Certified Nurses and Clinical Laboratory Technicians

As part ofthe medical system in Japan, one ofthe initial steps in palliative care involves cancer patient guidance management fee(counseling)by a nurse. However, due to poor cooperation between doctors and nurses, the rate ofcounseling is currently low. Therefore, at our hospital, we collaborated with clinical laboratory technicians to inform, at the same time, both the certified nurse and doctor of the patient's diagnostic test results regarding any malignant findings in the pathological tissue examination. Then, we initiated efforts to inform the doctor about the implementation of counseling positively by certified nurses. As a result, it was possible to set a reliable list oftarget patients, and the number ofcounseling sessions increased by 1.5 times. In addition, these findings suggest the possibility ofreducing the burden ofdoctors by counseling.