The effect of electronic reminders on missed care and the quality of care provided by oncology nurse: a randomized, controlled, experimental study

Abstract Background & aim Nurses in different departments have multiple job descriptions, and the main duty of the nurse is care. One of the rights of hospitalized patients is to ensure that their needs are met, and to receive safe and comprehensive care from the health care system, but in some situations, a number of care activities are omitted or forgotten, which reduces the quality of care. Today, addressing quality and trying to improve quality and its evaluation in health care and nursing systems has received attention. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world, and patients with cancer are hospitalized and require quality care with minimal forgetfulness. Few studies have been conducted on forgotten care in the oncology department and its impact on the quality of care. Therefore, perhaps by implementing interventions such as reminding patients of care that is most often forgotten, it can reduce the frequency of forgetting these cares and lead to desirable outcomes such as improving patient safety, improving the quality of nursing care, and increasing patient and family satisfaction. It can also provide nurses with the opportunity to pay attention to providing more desirable and quality care by informing them. Materials & methods This interventional and experimental study included all nurses from the oncology department of Afzalipour Hospital, affiliated with Kerman University of Medical Sciences. Participants were initially enrolled in the study through census sampling and then randomly assigned to two intervention and control groups between July and September 2023. Data were collected using a demographic information form, the MISSCARE Survey, and the Quality Patient Care Scale at three time points: before, immediately after, and one month post-intervention. The 19-day intervention involved sending electronic reminders via Eitaa and WhatsApp messengers. Data were analyzed using SPSS-21 software, employing the chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, independent samples t-test, and repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Findings Immediately and one month after the intervention, the mean total missed care scores for the intervention group were 80.11 ± 10.21 and 80.84 ± 6.26, respectively. For the control group, these scores were 72.65 ± 9.18 and 72.20 ± 9.27, showing a statistically significant difference ( P < 0.05). Similarly, the mean total nursing care quality scores for the intervention group were 191.20 ± 17.20 and 195.15 ± 11.35 immediately and one month post-intervention. The control group’s corresponding scores were 176.85 ± 21 and 175.21 ± 35.05, also demonstrating a statistically significant difference ( P < 0.05). Conclusion Electronic reminders effectively reduce the frequency of missed care and enhance the quality of nursing care. Implementing such reminders can contribute to significant improvements in nursing care quality, ensuring timely and accurate patient care.