Effective communication is essential in radiology, particularly in patient-facing specialties such as breast imaging. However, formal communication training is often limited during residency. This pilot study offers an initial evaluation of a brief communication workshop for radiology residents at a single institution. Researchers adapted this workshop from the Academy of Communication in Healthcare (ACH) Relationship Centered Care Curriculum and American College of Radiology (ACR) Communication Skills Training Module. Using simulated breast imaging scenarios, the workshop covered six skills: eliciting patient concerns, reflective listening, asking the patient’s perspective, responding with empathy, sharing information in small digestible chunks, and using teach-back to assess understanding. Pre- and post-workshop surveys showed statistically significant increases in residents’ self-reported likelihood of using each skill (p < 0.0001). While this pilot study focuses on perceived intention to use communication skills, further studies are warranted that incorporate patient input and assess sustained effects of training on behavior.
Purpose Cancer cachexia (CC) affects 50-70% of cancer patients, compromising quality of life (QOL) due to poor appetite, weight loss, muscle wasting and fatigue. This study examined patients’ experiences of the Cachexia and Nutritional Support Service (CNSS). Methods Individual qualitative interviews were conducted, and data were analysed using a reflective thematic analysis approach. Key Findings Analysis of 11 interviews identified three key themes: 1) Impact of cachexia on sense of self; 2) Provision of holistic care; and 3) Experiencing a different model of care. Findings revealed participants experienced a profound change in their sense of self and QOL due to CC. Participants valued the experience of personalised holistic care. Implications of the study : Person-centred care provided in the CNSS enables individuals to implement strategies aimed at enhancing QOL and counterbalance distress. By emphasising patient voices, this study highlights that effective cachexia treatment requires time, empathy, connection, and care that acknowledges patients and carers lived experience. Importantly, these guiding principles should be considered cornerstones of quality, effective and innovative healthcare.
The themes that arise in patient verbatim comments regarding care experiences can guide clinician and unit improvements. Qualitative analysis and natural language processing are time and resource intensive, but a large language model (LLM) might be more efficient and practical for this purpose. An LLM analyzed 77 transcribed comments from post-visit telephone surveys in musculoskeletal specialty care among patients who gave relatively low ratings of enthusiasm to recommend the clinician on a 0 to 10-point scale grouped as 0, 1-2, and 3-6. The LLM generated 9 rating-specific categories of themes that varied by grouping of numerical ratings. Human coders consolidated the LLM suggested categories into three consistent categories that applied across rating levels: trust and relationship, lack of direction, and logistics. Consistent with prior knowledge, the categories associated with the lowest recommendation ratings addressed relationship concerns and mid-range scores mostly addressed logistical issues. These findings suggest an LLM can be a useful tool for clinical units to use patient comments about their care to help improve patient experience.
Children living with chronic conditions face sustained clinical, emotional, and logistical demands that may fragment care across settings. Care Maps are visual tools that support the identification of children’s needs, family priorities, and available resources, whereas Roadmaps are structured educational guides that support transitions and continuity of care. This article presents a practice-oriented reflection on the complementary and iterative integration of Care Maps and Roadmaps in pediatric chronic care and family nursing practice. In the proposed framework, Care Maps support assessment and shared understanding of the child-family context, while Roadmaps translate identified priorities into anticipatory planning, staged education, and transition support. Revisiting both tools at admission, discharge, and follow-up may strengthen care coordination, shared decision-making, and family empowerment across the illness trajectory. In research, these tools also offer pragmatic visual and participatory strategies for exploring family experiences, care trajectories, and decision-making processes in pediatric chronic conditions. Integrating Care Maps and Roadmaps may therefore enhance family nursing practice and provide methodological contributions for research focused on continuity of care and family-centered pediatric chronic care.
We explored patients’ and healthcare workers’ perceptions of an institution-produced educational video on Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS), including perceived changes in patient understanding and anxiety and perceived usefulness in clinical practice. This prospective, exploratory, single-center, post-viewing survey included patients scheduled for GKRS and healthcare workers involved in GKRS care. Participants watched a 7.5-min animated video detailing the procedure and then completed a structured questionnaire. Among 50 patients, 64% reported little or no prior knowledge of radiation therapy, and 70% recalled feeling anxious before viewing. After viewing, 96% reported a perceived improvement in understanding, and 82% reported a perceived reduction in anxiety. All 52 healthcare workers rated the video as helpful for patient understanding and anxiety reduction, and many reported perceived reductions in workload. One healthcare worker reported a perceived increase in workload, which may have reflected study-related survey tasks rather than the video itself. Both groups evaluated the video favorably. These exploratory findings do not establish causal or objectively measured effects but support further evaluation of structured audiovisual education in GKRS counseling.
