Cancer care coordinators' realtionships with the multidisciplinary team and patients: everything to everyone

This study aimed to examine the role of cancer care coordinators (CCCs) by investigating what is practically involved in care coordination and what CCCs' perceptions of their role are. Using a qualitative approach with an action research design, two CCCs from a large regional hospital in Australia undertook a patient record audit, analysed using content analysis, and reflected upon within a reflective group process. In practice, cancer care coordination involves a variety of activities which support the multidisciplinary team, cancer patients and carers. The participants' perspective - that they were everything to everyone - was an acceptable way of defining the parameters of their role. Areas requiring consideration are multidisciplinary team function in regard to liaison and shared responsibility, strategies to reduce the potential deskilling of team members, increasing awareness of the importance of promoting patient self-management, critically reflecting on relationships with team members and patients, and endeavouring to gain organisational and multidisciplinary team support for what appears to be a role on which there is great reliance.