Patient-Centered Cancer Care: Using the APRN Role to Decrease Delays

•A root cause analysis of care delays resulted in a new role for an APRN.•The APRN daily review of abnormal studies decreased wait time by 80%.•Disseminating this role may be helpful to decrease delays in other facilities.

This paper discusses the creation of an Abnormal Radiology Findings position for an advanced practice nurse in the imaging department. The Abnormal Radiology Finding position assisted with the decrease in number of days from study to decision of care for our veterans. Any veteran who had an imaging study with a suspected malignancy was followed until a decision of care was determined. Since the implementation of this position at Central Arkansas Veteran Healthcare System, the number of days from study to decision of care decreased from an average of 38 to an average of 7 days. The Abnormal Radiological Findings advanced practice registered nurse role decreased the delays associated with follow-up care and allowed for decisions regarding the veteran's care to be made in a timely manner. This is one more way advanced practice registered nurses can provide excellent and patient-centered care.