title: Asking questions of a palliative care nurse practitioner on a pancreatic cancer website.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Increasing evidence demonstrates the benefits of online cancer interventions but very little about the needs of those with pancreatic cancer or interaction with online providers. Our study was done to (1) see how many people would visit a webpage where they could interact with a palliative care nurse practitioner (PCNP), (2) see how many would ask the PCNP questions, (3) determine the type of questions, and (4) obtain feedback regarding the usefulness of the webpage.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mixed-methods descriptive design.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 2174 visits to the webpage, and a total of 84 participants sent 110 questions/comments. Some 28 (33%) were people worried that they might have pancreatic cancer. Most questions (59, 53%) had to do with palliative care issues, with the largest subgroup (26, 23%) involving psychological concerns. A total of 39 completed an online survey and were relatives (20, 52%), or patients (17, 44%). They rated the webpage at 3.3/4 as being helpful at learning about the physical symptoms/treatments of pancreatic cancer, at 3.1/4 for learning about emotional issues, at 3/4 for learning about palliative care, at 2.8/4 for learning about hospice, and at 3.3/4 for reading other people's questions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The PCNP webpage was a helpful resource. Most asking questions were worried about having or getting pancreatic cancer. More research is needed into online providers, interventions, and conducting research online.
authors.affiliation: University of Maryland School of Nursing,Baltimore,Maryland.
authors.forename: Marian S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.affiliation: University of Maryland School of Nursing,Baltimore,Maryland.
authors.forename: Debra L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Wiegand
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,Baltimore,Maryland.
authors.forename: Sydney M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Dy
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D066275:Health Information Exchange / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D064946:Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Internet; Palliative care; Pancreatic cancer