Lung cancer remains one of the most prevalent and lethal malignancies globally, with its incidence and mortality rates escalating steadily in recent years. Notably, it accounts for the highest mortality rate among all cancers (Detterbeck et al., 2024). Chemotherapy serves as a cornerstone in lung cancer treatment, prolonging survival and controlling disease progression. However, prolonged chemotherapy often induces adverse effects such as bone marrow suppression and gastrointestinal reactions, exacerbating physical and psychological distress (Abu Rous et al., 2023). Furthermore, patients' limited understanding of their disease and treatment protocols may amplify anxiety, reduce treatment adherence, and even lead to therapy discontinuation (Li et al., 2023; Takemura et al., 2024). These challenges underscore the necessity for targeted nursing interventions during chemotherapy.

Conventional nursing, while widely utilized, predominantly focuses on disease management, often neglecting patients' subjective experiences and psychological needs. This approach lacks personalization and scientific rigor, resulting in suboptimal outcomes (Yuan et al., 2022). In contrast, evidence-based nursing (EBN) integrates the best available research evidence with clinical expertise and patient preferences, demonstrating efficacy in improving treatment adherence, self-efficacy, and quality of life in cancer patients (Chen et al., 2022). Studies have further validated its utility in alleviating cancer-related pain, fatigue, and psychological distress (Martini et al., 2024; Shen et al., 2021).

A novel approach, the evidence-based nursing intervention under a quantitative evaluation strategy, advances traditional EBN by operationalizing a structured framework for personalized care. This model integrates the best available research evidence with a systematic, quantitative risk assessment to deliver tailored, individualized nursing care. The ‘evidence-based’ component draws from established clinical guidelines and research findings, while the ‘quantitative evaluation strategy’ involves using validated scales to stratify patients based on their risk for physical and psychosocial complications, enabling targeted interventions (Ropka et al., 2005). This model involves multidisciplinary collaboration to identify factors influencing chemotherapy outcomes through methods such as brainstorming and patient surveys. By synthesizing existing literature and patient-specific data (including clinical markers, self-reported symptoms, and psychosocial assessments), it establishes quantifiable, individualized nursing protocols (Agure et al., 2024). These protocols prioritize psychological support, cognitive restructuring, and complication prevention, fostering resilience and adaptive coping mechanisms. By systematically identifying patient-specific risk factors—such as predisposition to anxiety or high symptom burden—this model aims to proactively address the root causes of distress, thereby enhancing psychological resilience and fostering a more adaptive illness perception, which have been identified as critical determinants of patient well-being (Chen et al., 2024; Faller et al., 2013).

Psychological resilience, defined as the dynamic process of adapting well in the face of adversity, is a critical psychosocial factor influencing how patients cope with a cancer diagnosis and treatment (Connor & Davidson, 2003). High resilience is associated with better quality of life and lower psychological distress. Illness perception refers to a patient's cognitive and emotional representations of their illness, which shapes their coping behaviors and treatment adherence (Broadbent et al., 2015). Negative illness perceptions can be a significant barrier to effective self-management. Despite the theoretical benefits of tailored nursing care, limited research has explored the impact of quantitative evaluation-guided EBN on psychological resilience and illness perception in lung cancer patients. This study aims to bridge this gap by evaluating the efficacy of this innovative nursing model in enhancing psychological resilience, illness perception, and clinical outcomes in lung cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.