Nurse coaching is both evidence-based and deeply human.
This section shares research and data that demonstrate how nurse coaching can support people navigating cancer, especially in the spaces where traditional medical care may not be designed to provide ongoing, whole-person support.
Evidence Based Care
There are more than 18 million Americans living with a history of invasive cancer.
Over 2 million new cancer cases* are expected to be diagnosed in the US in 2025.
(*Excluding non-melanoma skin cancers)
American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2025. Atlanta: American Cancer Society; 2025.
“Emotional wellbeing remains a crisis point. One in three patients experiences depression or anxiety during treatment, and just a third of those feel adequately supported in managing mental health. Younger patients, patients of color, and those parenting children during treatment are more likely to feel isolated during treatment. While patients turn most often to family and friends for support, few report meaningful mental health help from their care teams. Half of those with pre-existing mental health conditions say cancer made it harder to manage them.
Cancer’s mental health toll remains invisible in too many care settings, leaving survivors anxious, isolated, and exhausted.”
According to the 2025 Cancer Nation State of Survivorship Survey of 2,000 cancer survivors.
“Over nine in ten patients experience side effects, yet few feel their care teams were very helpful in managing them, with the exception of nausea. Fatigue, fear of recurrence, and pain top the list. And these side effects don’t always end when treatment does; they shape survivors’ ability to work, parent, and live fully.
Whole person cancer care demands attention to the long shadow side effects cast.”
According to the 2025 Cancer Nation State of Survivorship Survey of 2,000 cancer survivors.
“While most survivors continue to trust their doctors, that trust is diminishing, especially among younger and underserved patients. At the same time, satisfaction with care, while still high, has declined across nearly every stage of the cancer journey.
Greater financial strains and more patients struggling with mental health issues are the biggest drivers of the decrease in satisfaction.”
According to the 2025 Cancer Nation State of Survivorship Survey of 2,000 cancer survivors.
Support for Nurse Coaching
Nurse Coaching: Providing holistic care to patients with cancer
“Patients with cancer face many challenges from the time of diagnosis to the end of life. Nurse coaching is a practice that has the potential to significantly influence care of patients with cancer. This article describes how nurse coaching practices provide holistic support to patients in a way that may help to relieve cancer-related distress and assist patients in achieving their goals.”
Dermody E. Nurse Coaching: Providing Holistic Care to Patients With Cancer. Clin J Oncol Nurs. 2021 Jun 1;25(3):237-239. doi: 10.1188/21.CJON.237-239. PMID: 34019035.
Health Coaching provided by registered nurses described: a systematic review and narrative synthesis
“Registered Nurses are most suitable for implementing health coaching for self-care, including preventing and managing chronic illness and recovering from situations like post-surgical needs. Nurses already promote health, and therefore, are skilled in educating people in self-care. Coaching is an additional strategy for motivating, targeting and assessing progress of self-care.”
Barr JA, Tsai LP. Health coaching provided by registered nurses described: a systematic review and narrative synthesis. BMC Nurs. 2021 May 10;20(1):74. doi: 10.1186/s12912-021-00594-3. PMID: 33966641; PMCID: PMC8108347.
Nurse Coaching in Oncology Care: Coaching Roles Give Nurses New Avenues to Provide Patient-Centered Care
“Studies of patients who used nurse coaching for chronic conditions have shown that coaching increased compliance to treatments, decreased hospital readmission rates, and improved clinical biomarkers”
Oncology Nursing Society- ONS Voice August 2021 Eliza Becze, BA, ELS, Editor
According to publications of the American Nurses Association:
“Professional nurse coaching is a skilled, purposeful, results-oriented, and structured relationship and a person-centered interaction with a healthcare consumer that is provided by a baccalaureate-prepared or advanced practice registered nurse for the purpose of promoting achievement of a person’s goals.”
“Achievement of the person’s goals is accomplished by first establishing a co-creative partnership with the individual, acknowledging that they are the expert in their own care. The nurse sets aside the expert role and instead assists the person to identify and prioritize desired areas for change. Thus, goals originate from clarifying and identifying the person’s agenda.”
Southard, M. E., Dossey, B. M., Bark, L. J., & Schaub, B. G. (2021). The art and science of nurse coaching: The provider’s guide to coaching scope and competencies (2nd ed.). American Nurses Association.