Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) can provide insight into patients' experiences and potential challenges and thereby support person-centred consultations.However, little is known about how nurses document and manage PROM data in the electronic health record.With a focus on body image and sexuality among patients being treated for breast cancer, this brief report explores how the integration and systematic documentation of PROM data in the electronic health record transforms nurses' communicative practices.The data include an audit of 102 nursing records before PROM implementation and, after implementation, qualitative data from 28 J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f observations and 24 interviews.Before implementation, documentation under the heading "body image and sexuality" was scarce, often absent or limited to brief, standardised phrases such as "the patient is fine."After implementation, the PROMs acted as a catalyst for person-centred symptom communication and more nuanced documentation.Nurses more frequently described emotional, physical and relational experiences, including dissatisfaction, discomfort and intimacy.PROMs supported that conversations were documented, and previously unspoken aspects of care were made visible.The documentation of nursing assessments informed by PROM data is a promising part of nurses' communicative practice, which demonstrates and supports the value of nursing.
Hansen et al. (Fri,) studied this question.