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At the Breast Surgery Clinic at Rigshospitalet, 900 women annually are diagnosed with breast cancer. Twenty per cent receive subsequent follow-up in the clinic and the remaining 80 per cent are referred to the Oncology Clinic. Organisation of the follow-up visit is based on the guidelines of the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group (DBCG) and its function is to provide clinical follow-up, including an element of psychological support. There are no written guidelines for the latter in the clinic, and only clinical data is documented in the patient notes. The follow-up is provided by the clinic surgeons or specially-trained nurses. A study of available literature reveals the needs of women treated for breast cancer when they attend follow-up visits. The following search terms are used in PubMed and Cinahl: breast cancer, low risk, follow-up, psycho social and nursing. Six articles are included in the study. The articles describe: the women's need for reasurrance; the fact that the women view the visit as an opportunity to put questions to a health care professional; the women's need for psychosocial support and a significant need for information within the following areas: side effects/late complications, heredity, prevention/lifestyle changes/alternative treatment, married life/fertility/contraception and body-image/reconstruction. The conclusion is that the control visit, in addition to being a clinical check-up, should include the potential to reveal which of the above factors are relevant to the individual woman, and which interventions are relevant in relation to these. The study has meant that, among other things, the check-up visits from this point on will be managed solely by the nurses. In the future we will work on identifying and documenting the needs of individual patients.

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