Date of Conferral

11-12-2025

Date of Award

November 2025

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Corinne Romano

Abstract

A staff education DNP project was designed and implemented with a focus on the analysis, synthesis, and application of best practices to enhance staff knowledge and performance through targeted education on fatigue assessments in cancer care. The project sought to answer the question: Does oncology nurse staff education increase knowledge of fatigue assessments in patients with cancer as compared pre to post education? The purpose of this project was to address a knowledge deficit by increasing staff knowledge on fatigue assessment in an ambulatory care setting by recognizing that cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is a complex, multifactorial symptom that often goes underassessed in oncology practice. Prior to the intervention, participants completed a five-question baseline pre assessment to establish a benchmark for participants knowledge of CRF and validated fatigue assessment tools. Next, participants attended an in-person 30-minute educational session, which was followed by the completion of a post assessment quiz with a confidence rating to allow for direct comparison of pre-and post-education scores and confidence ratings. After the intervention, participant knowledge scores improved from a mean pre-assessment score of 74.4% to a mean post-assessment score of 81.6%, representing a 7.2 point increase, with a high mean confidence level of 4.68 out of 5 on their ability to assess CRF. It is recommended that fatigue assessment training be implemented into onboarding to become a standard part of orientation for staff. This project impacted nursing practice, inclusivity and positive social change by emphasizing the importance of equitable assessment by training staff to use standardized, patient-reported tools that reduce bias and improve patient communication.

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