Collaboration Between Oncology Social Workers and Nurses: A Patient-Centered Interdisciplinary Model of Bladder Cancer Care

Abstract

Objectives: We propose a bladder cancer patient-centered, interdisciplinary collaboration model of care adapted from an earlier model by Black, Dornan, and Allegrante (1986). The Bladder Patient-Centered Interdisciplinary Team (BPIT) model provides a conceptual foundation for assembling interdisciplinary teams and emphasizes the patient as an active participant in treatment and member of the care team, along with oncology nurses, wound ostomy and continence nurses, and oncology social workers.

Data sources: This model integrates scopes of practice and practice standards from nursing and social work professional organizations, findings from peer-reviewed articles, and expert clinical opinion in conceptualizing interdisciplinary bladder cancer care.

Conclusion: BPIT is not meant to be an exhaustive or proscriptive catalog of roles and responsibilities. Future research is needed in this area to further refine and delineate the oncology social worker and nursing scopes of practice and standards for collaborative teamwork.

Implications for nursing practice: The unmet supportive care needs of patients with bladder cancer across all phases of the cancer continuum are well documented. Oncology and wound ostomy and continence nurses are of critical importance to holistically addressing these needs and enhancing the health-related quality of life. The BPIT model provides a broad overview of the discipline-specific and interdisciplinary team-specific roles and responsibilities for bladder cancer care.

Keywords: Bladder cancer; Collaboration; Interdisciplinary team; Oncology nursing; Oncology social work; Wound ostomy continence nursing.