Evaluation of an educational tool to enhance outcomes for patients with head and neck cancer.

Patients with head and neck cancer often present with locally advanced disease at the time of diagnosis. Treatment plans include aggressive radiation therapy, often with concurrent chemotherapy. This treatment causes significant toxicity resulting from normal tissue damage. Currently, no consensus or evidence-based practice guidelines exist regarding which type of oral care products are best to use. Nurses in one radiation oncology department initiated a performance improvement project to develop oral care guidelines and an educational-tool for patients.