Shared Decision Making in Cancer Nursing: An International Review

Abstract

Shared decision making (SDM) is an approach in which patients and healthcare providers simultaneously work to make decisions about tests, treatments, or chronic conditions management. To explore any possible interventions between cancer patients, nurses in the SDM process need to be up to data on the current literature. A global focused literature review of English and Italian language papers on the topic was done. The search included the use of the following terms: shared decision making, cancer patient, and nurse. Fourteen studies that were the best fit with the inclusion criteria were included to create this narrative review. The conclusion was that cancer nurses seemed to be relevant in cancer teams to support patients in their SDM processes. They do this by balancing the evidence on options, preferences, and values through a decision coaching approach to determine the best practices for supporting patients in their decisions.