Making Innovation Meaningful: Enabling Personalized Care in Multiple Myeloma

For oncology nurses, caring for patients with multiple myeloma (MM) has become increasingly complex. As therapeutic advances help patients live longer, nurses are supporting more individualized care journeys while helping patients navigate an ever-growing amount of information. Yet despite playing a central role throughout the patient experience, nurses often face resource and time constraints that can limit opportunities for meaningful patient engagement. New findings from a five-country European survey of oncology nurses and nurse experts highlight these challenges and point to opportunities for innovation — both to support nursing workflows and enhance patient care.¹

Navigating Information and Operational Demands

Keeping pace with innovation requires nurses to balance a growing volume of clinical information with rising patient expectations. Patients and caregivers often arrive with extensive research gathered online and look to nurses to help interpret it, evaluate treatment options, and address misconceptions.

At the same time, nurses remain deeply involved in treatment delivery. Approximately 70% of nurses reported serving as key decision makers in medication preparation and administration, underscoring the significant operational responsibilities they manage throughout the care journey.¹

When clinical and administrative demands consume much of the day, opportunities for patient education and individualized support become limited. As treatment options expand, protecting time for these interactions will be critical.¹

Redefining Personalized Care

Personalized care in MM extends beyond selecting an effective treatment regimen. It requires understanding what matters most to each patient and ensuring care decisions reflect their individual priorities, whether that means maintaining independence, continuing to work, preserving important routines, or spending more time with family.

Building this understanding requires meaningful dialogue and strong nurse-patient relationships. Yet survey respondents identified staffing shortages, capacity pressures, and administrative responsibilities as barriers to these conversations.¹

This need for time is greatest at three critical moments in the MM journey. The first is diagnosis, when patients and caregivers ask, “What lies ahead?” The second is relapse, when the central question becomes, “Is there still hope?” The third is often overlooked: when patients achieve a response and care shifts to monitoring alone, many begin to fear that they are no longer being watched as closely. Each of these moments requires extra time to answer every question and ease anxiety.

In the era of new therapies, nurses must be prepared to recognize these moments and to have the time to care for and accompany both patients and caregivers through them. This is where patient-centered care is truly built.

Delivery Innovations as an Enabler of Care

To address the growing demands placed on nurses, the oncology community must recognize that innovation extends beyond new therapeutic mechanisms. Innovations that streamline care delivery and reduce administrative burden can also play an important role in supporting patient care.

Traditionally, many MM therapies have required repeated intravenous infusions, leading to lengthy clinic visits for patients and significant administration and monitoring responsibilities for care teams. However, advances in treatment delivery, including subcutaneous administration may help simplify parts of the treatment experience.²

By reducing the time and resources associated with treatment administration, these innovations can potentially create efficiencies for care teams and make treatment more convenient for patients. Importantly, they can free nurses to focus on what matters most: educating patients, answering complex questions, and accompanying them through the critical moments of their care.

Looking Ahead

For patients, innovation is not measured solely by new treatments. It is also reflected in the everyday moments that shape their experience, whether that means spending less time in the clinic, maintaining important routines, or having opportunities for meaningful conversations with their care team.

As MM care continues to evolve, nurses will need the training, tools, and time to support patients and caregivers from diagnosis, through relapse, to long-term monitoring. Doing so can help ensure that progress is reflected not only in clinical outcomes, but also in the experiences of those living with the disease.

Maite San Miguel is a nurse and clinical trials coordinator in hematology at Clinica Universidad de Navarra.

Reference

1. Examining the role of nurses in multiple myeloma (MM) care: insights from a European survey. Presented at: European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress; June 11-14, 2025. Abstract 4266.
2. Treatments for Multiple Myeloma: Standard Drug Therapies for Multiple Myeloma. MMRF. Accessed August 31, 2026. https://themmrf.org/diagnosis-and-treatment/treatment-options/