guidelines
Improving adherence
and patient outcomes
The use of antiemetic guidelines will ensure that the care
provided to cancer patients is based on evidence, improves
health outcomes and potentially decreases costs
Alex Molassiotis RN PhD
School of Nursing & WHO
Collaborating Centre for Community
Health Services, The Hong Kong
Polytechnic University, Hong Kong,
China
The Institute of Medicine
defines clinical practice
guidelines as statements that
include recommendations
intended to optimise patient care
that are informed by a systematic
review of evidence and an
assessment of the benefits and
harms of alternative care options. 1
Hence they include evidence-based
recommendations that assist
clinicians to make decisions about
the care they provide to their
patients. Clinical practice
guidelines have the potential to
contribute to a more consistent
and efficient delivery of care that
can lead to health outcome
improvements for the patients/
clients. There is a growing interest
in the development of clinical
practice guidelines internationally,
with many medical societies and
institutions developing such
guidelines across the spectrum
of care, from prevention and
screening (that is, guidelines
for colorectal cancer screening)
to optimal drugs that can be
administered for a variety of
clinical situations (for example,
antiemetic guidelines in cancer
care). Development of guidelines is
driven primarily from a need to
optimise patient care through
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