Role of nurses in a multisciplinary team managing patients at risk for osteonecrosis of jaw (onj): a fifteen-year experience

Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (ONJ) is a serious event, with negative consequences on the Quality of Life of advanced cancer and myeloma patients. Antiresorptive drugs (bisphosphonates and denosumab) are of great clinical benefit, they impose careful oral health monitoring in order to prevent the occurrence of ONJ. On November 2005, at Alessandria Hospital, an ONJ Multidisciplinary Team for the prevention, the diagnosis and the treatment of ONJ was established; within the team, nurses are active as case-managers. The case manager nurses became the figure of coordination of diagnosis path, treatment and care, as well as a reference for the patient and the whole multidisciplinary team. The team nurses are also involved in data collection and processing, by monitoring the clinical care pathway both for practice patients and for study protocol patients. At March 2021, more than 900 patients were seen by the multidisciplinary group, with data registered on charts and database. In our experience, nurses are active  members of the Multidisciplinary Team, playing multiple roles: case manager taking charge of a patient, when following and supporting him/her during first visits, diagnosis and treatment; coordinator of the procedures to be implemented, indicated by several medical specialists; health educator implementing proper health interventions; data management and participation in study protocols, hence outlining the role of the research nurse.