Understanding the accuracy of body temperature measurements in patient triage during cancer treatment: a retrospective audit

Journal article

Elevated temperature can be the first sign of infection and neutropenic sepsis in patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Most cancer patients are treated as outpatients and are educated to take their temperatures regularly during treatment. Patients who notice a fever or other concerning symptoms at home are advised to contact the hospital triage unit, who use home-measured temperature, along with other clinical information, to decide whether to admit the patient for assessment and treatment. Following concerns from triage nurses at a regional cancer centre that home-measured temperatures were not being accurately reported, the authors carried out a retrospective audit to quantify differences between reported body temperature at home and on arrival at the triage unit. They found that although temperature measurement is correctly used to identify patients needing further assessment, it is often missing when patients call the triage line and/or measured inaccurately. Improvements in temperature measurement, particularly in the home environment, would be likely to optimise patient care in this vulnerable cohort.

Authors: Merriman, C; Voller, H; Machin, G; Wiltshire, R; Stevens, R

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: RCN Publishing
• Journal: Cancer Nursing Practice
• Publication date: 2024-05-29
• Acceptance date: 2024-03-01
• DOI: 10.7748/cnp.2024.e1858
• EISSN: 2047-8933
• ISSN: 1475-4266
• Language: English
• Keywords: emergency; cancer treatments; patient assessment; cancer care; cancer; observations; triage; emergency care; nursing care; body temperature; patients; telephone triage; professional