Abstract:
This project evaluated the roles andworkload of Registered Nurses (RNs) within an
outpatient Cancer Care Centre (CCC) of a tertiary referral hospital in Sydney, Australia.
The research incorporated the two distinct areas of radiation oncology and haematology
oncology.
Patient throughput (incorporating clinic attendance and treatments) was known to have
increased substantially since the centre opened in 1994.The nursing Full Time Equivalents
(FTEs) for the CCC were determined when the centre opened with minimal change to the
nursing establishment since then.Nursing staff perceived that their workload had
increased substantially and that their roles had becomemore complex.
Work sampling was conducted over a 3-month period and identified the range of nursing
activities performed by the oncology outpatient nurse.The nurseswere found to have a
large administrative role while their nursing activities ranged from basic nursing tasks to
more specialist activities including patient counseling and complex chemotherapy regimes.
