Donna L. Berry on Listening to Cancer Patients

Donna L. Berry, PhD, RN, AOCN, FAAN, Director, Phyllis F. Cantor Center for Research in Nursing & Patient Care Services, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, discusses the importance of listening to patients with cancer.

In the last 20 years, Berry says that the field of nursing has been exploring how to help patients communicate what is important to them. Often times, providers (nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, and physician assistants) do not always hear and understand what is important to a patient.

Berry presented at the Oncology Nursing Society 38th Annual Congress some exemplars to inspire the audience to heed characteristics, influential factors, and competing interesting from patients to truly help them navigate cancer therapy.