Congratulations to Paula Koppel, PhD student, and her faculty sponsor Jennie DeGagne, professor, who has received an award for her National League for Nursing proposal entitled: "Nurse-Patient Rapport in Oncology Ambulatory Care During Videoconferencing Visits." This award is for a 17-month period.

When telehealth videoconferencing became essential for patients with cancer due to the COVID-19 pandemic, providers had little research to support this change in interactive practice and had concerns about its effect on the patient-provider relationship. Studies suggest that interactions during videoconferencing, although similar to in-person encounters, present unique challenges that can impact rapport, diagnostic accuracy, and treatment compliance. Rapport is critical for facilitating holistic assessment of needs and personalization of care and for establishing a trusting and therapeutic relationship, yet despite its importance, little is known about the impact of videoconferencing visits on nurse-patient rapport, and measures of rapport have not been tested in this setting. 

Project Aims and Approach

The specific aims for the dissertation include:

1.    Complete an initial gap analysis of the state of current knowledge regarding oncology nurse-patient rapport during videoconferencing using systematic review methodologies. 
2.    Explore the nature of rapport between oncology nurses and patients with cancer during videoconferencing through a qualitative descriptive study.
3.    Determine the feasibility of using behavioral indices of positivity resonance and self-report items of perceived positivity resonance to measure rapport between nurses and patients with cancer in videoconferencing.