Participants in this group will receive a nurse-led self-management program in addition to usual care. The program is designed to support women with breast cancer receiving taxane-based chemotherapy in recognizing, monitoring, and managing taste alteration and related nutritional problems. The intervention will include education, symptom monitoring, self-management strategies, and nurse-led supportive guidance to improve taste alteration, nutritional status, and quality of life during chemotherapy.

Participants in this group will receive routine care provided during taxane-based chemotherapy. They will not receive the nurse-led self-management program during the study period. Outcome assessments will be performed according to the same schedule as the intervention group.

This 8-week nurse-led self-management program is a behavioral supportive care intervention designed specifically for women with breast cancer receiving taxane-based chemotherapy. The program focuses on the self-management of taxane-related taste alteration and associated nutritional problems. It includes structured nurse-led education, regular assessment of taste-related symptoms, self-monitoring of taste changes and food-related difficulties, individualized counseling, goal setting, problem-solving support, and practical strategies to maintain food intake and quality of life during chemotherapy. The intervention is delivered in addition to routine care and differs from general chemotherapy education by specifically integrating taste alteration management, nutritional self-management, and nurse-led follow-up within a structured 8-week program.

Taste alteration will be assessed using the Chemotherapy-Induced Taste Alteration Scale (CiTAS). The scale includes 18 items and four subdomains: decline in basic taste, discomfort, phantogeusia and parageusia, and general taste alterations. Scores range from 1 to 5 for each item or subdomain, with higher scores indicating greater taste alteration and taste-related discomfort. Change in CiTAS scores across baseline, Week 5, and Week 9 will be evaluated.

Nutritional risk will be assessed using the Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS-2002) form. The NRS-2002 evaluates nutritional status and disease severity, with an additional age-related score for participants aged 70 years or older. A total score of 3 or higher indicates nutritional risk or malnutrition risk. Change in NRS-2002 scores across baseline, Week 5, and Week 9 will be evaluated.

Quality of life will be assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30, version 3.0 (EORTC QLQ-C30 v3.0). The questionnaire includes global health status, functional status, and symptom status domains. Scores are transformed to a 0-100 scale according to the EORTC scoring manual. Higher scores for global health status and functional status indicate better quality of life, whereas higher symptom scores indicate greater symptom burden. Change in EORTC QLQ-C30 scores across baseline, Week 5, and Week 9 will be evaluated.

Red blood cell count will be assessed using routine hematological laboratory test results. The outcome will be reported as 10⁶ cells/µL.