The purpose of this study is to describe the nursing care activities documented by advanced practice nursing during implementation of a standard nursing intervention protocol (SNIP) with elderly breast cancer and lung cancer patients. This protocol, consisting of three post-hospitalization home visits and five telephone calls, is being tested in an ongoing randomized clinical trial to investigate quality of life outcomes among post-surgical cancer patients (McCorkle, PI, NINR, 1R01 NR03229, 1992-1996). Intervention statements will be classified using the Nursing Intervention Lexicon and Taxonomy (NILT) developed by Grobe. NILT is a seven category nursing intervention classification which permits categorization of intervention statements documented in free text format using nurses' natural language terminology. Nursing care activities will be described by intervention type (NILT category assignment), frequency of use, diversity, and variability during SMIP episodes of care. NILT classification will permit quantification of nursing interventions so they can be correlated with the outcomes of patient symptom distress, enforced social dependency, depression, and mental health status. Describing the characteristics of home-based nursing care activities is needed to facilitate better utilization of nursing resources and guide health policy decisions about formal home care services needed by elderly cancer patients.
