RATIONALE: A teaching intervention with an advanced practice nurse may help reduce psychosocial and symptom distress and improve the well-being and quality of life of patients with ovarian cancer.

PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying the effects of a teaching intervention with an advanced practice nurse on quality of life and psychosocial and symptom distress in patients with ovarian cancer.

OBJECTIVES:

• To compare the effects of a standardized nursing intervention protocol (SNIP) model with an advanced practice nurse vs usual care on overall quality of life and psychological distress from initial treatment to 6 months after diagnosis in patients with ovarian cancer.
• To compare symptom control in these patients.
• To compare geriatric assessment outcomes in these patients.
• To compare the effects of the SNIP intervention vs usual care on resource use by these patients.
• To test the effects of SNIP on patients' and clinicians' satisfaction with care.
• To describe the effects of SNIP on management of transitions from one phase of chronic illness to another.
• To identify subgroups of patients with ovarian cancer who benefit most from the SNIP in relation to sociodemographic characteristics, disease/treatment factors, and geriatric assessment predictors.
• To obtain feedback from clinicians regarding interpretation of findings and application to the routine care of ovarian cancer patients.

OUTLINE: Patients are stratified according to age (18 to 60 years vs 61 years and over). Patients are sequentially enrolled into 1 of 2 groups. Patients are initially enrolled in group I. Once enrollment in group I is completed, additional patients are enrolled in group II.

• Group I (usual care): Patients complete questionnaires, including the FACT-Ovarian, Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale, Psychological Distress Thermometer, and Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment, at baseline and at 3 and 6 months. Clinicians also complete questionnaires, including the Clinician Satisfaction with Intervention Questionnaire. Patients' medical charts are reviewed to collect information about treatment, episodes of care, and readmissions.
• Group II (advanced practice nurse [APN] intervention): Patients undergo face-to-face individualized teaching sessions with an APN twice a month for 2 months. The sessions focus on the patient's physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being and the content is tailored to the patient's preferences and needs. Patients are then contacted by the APN via telephone once a month for 4 months to clarify questions and content from the teaching sessions, review any patient concerns, including concerns associated with a transition, and coordinate interdisciplinary resources, including community resources, as needed. Patients and clinicians complete questionnaires as in group I. Patients' medical charts are also reviewed.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Diagnosis of ovarian cancer (any stage)

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Lives within a 30-mile radius of City of Hope National Medical Center
• No prior cancer

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• Not specified