When people first meet the TARGET System, they are often surprised that the first step is not an intervention at all. It is terminology.
Shared language comes first
If a nurse, an oncologist and a patient each use a different word for the same reaction — or the same word for different things — the whole chain of care wobbles. Assessment, reporting and grading all depend on everyone meaning the same thing.
That is why TARGET begins with T for Terminology. Get the language right, and everything downstream gets easier.
The six steps, briefly
TARGET stands for Terminology, Assessment, Reporting, Grading, Education and Treatment. It is a six-step method for handling adverse events — built for the skin and mucosal side effects of targeted therapy, but applicable to almost any adverse event.
Crucially, its aim is to bring reactions under control without immediately reaching for a dose reduction or interruption.
From method to muscle memory
A system only helps if a team can actually run it. TARGET is designed to become second nature — a shared workflow that turns scattered, reactive side-effect care into a repeatable standard.