Experiences of Nurse Practitioners in Communicating Bad News to Cancer Patients

Communication is key to success throughout the trajectory of illness, whether among the collaborative practice team, with primary/referring providers, or with patients. Advanced practitioners (APs) are often called upon to provide patient education, test results, and/or to discuss prognosis, which can include bad news. How they communicate information to their patients and/or caregivers helps to establish trust and can also help the patient/caregivers cope through their journey with cancer. Good communication is a skill that can be taught and learned. This article uses the SPIKES protocol to illustrate how good communication can be learned, and how it ultimately impacts the practitioner’s caregiving experience.