Problem: People newly diagnosed with cancer (CA) frequently experience some level of anxiety and depression (A&D) related to their disease and CA treatment. Due to chemotherapy (C) complexities and treatment toxicities, patients must be educated about their treatment. How best to deliver this critical education has been a challenge for oncology nurses, and warranted investigation. While the literature cited the benefit of C patient teaching, there was scant evidence on the use of chemotherapy patient teaching DVDs (CPTDVD), as an education method to help decrease A&D levels in people newly diagnosed with CA. In addition, an on-line search revealed the most current video to be nine years old. Purpose and Scope: The purpose of this capstone project was to examine the level of A&D in people newly diagnosed with CA who were C naive, before and after the addition of a CPTDVD to a standard patient teaching intervention. The rationale for the project was the use of a DVD in addition to standard teaching could possibly decrease the levels of A&D experienced by people newly diagnosed with CA. Goal: The goal of the project was to develop an up to date CPTDVD and successfully implement its use in multiple healthcare organizations. Objectives: The following were project objectives: 1) produce a current CPTDVD, 2) describe the demographic characteristics of newly diagnosed, chemotherapy naive, people with solid tumor CA, 3) examine/describe the levels of A&D in people newly diagnosed with CA after a teaching intervention that includes the use of a CPTDVD. Plan: Phase One: Completed study proposal, secured funds to create and produce a current CPTDVD, created and produced a current CPTDVD, and gained two IRB approvals for proposed study. Phase Two: Implemented and evidence-based patient teaching intervention which included a CPTDVD, and evaluated the levels of A&D before and after the patient teaching intervention, through use of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) as the measurement tool. Outcome and Results: A paired sample two-tailed t-Test was used to determine if there was a difference in A&D, as measured by a modest, mean score improvement in levels of A&D, from pre to post intervention. Results revealed that the mean of post A score was statistically significantly lower than the mean of pre A score. Thus, there was a decrease in the level of A after watching the DVD. There was no statistical difference, for the means of pre and post D. The D level was not altered. Regression analysis was performed on demographic data. Results were not significant; likely due to a small sample size.
