1,721,321 research outputs found
The Impact of Experiential Learning in Enhancing\ud Palliative Care Knowledge and Skills among Nurses
No full textNurses working in community settings are increasingly required to care for people with chronic, life limiting conditions. Innovative educational programs are required to ensure nurses are equipped to deal with this challenging area of practice. The Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach (PEPA) started in 2003 as an initiative of the Australian Government, Department of Health and Ageing. The overall aim of PEPA is to improve the quality, availability and access to palliative care for people who are dying, and their families, by improving the skills and expertise of health practitioners, and enhancing collaboration between primary and specialist palliative care\ud
services. PEPA provides nurses with an opportunity to develop knowledge and skills in the palliative approach to care through funded clinical workforce placements or workshops
Recent Developments in Cancer Nursing
No full textOver the past few decades, cancer nursing services have developed in response to major scientific and technological advances in the treatment and support for people with cancer.\ud
Cancer nursing services today are widely regarded as an essential component of a safe, quality cancer care system, with nurses making a vital contribution to the prevention and\ud
reduction of physical and psychological morbidity associated with a cancer diagnosis and the process of cancer treatment. Like most health professions, the way in which nursing services contribute to improving the cancer experience and optimising the outcomes of cancer care is undergoing significant change. This change is being driven by many factors. In particular, the imperative to reform cancer services to create a system that is\ud
more person-centred is requiring that all health professions, including nurses, re-consider their practices and systems of care, as well as the nature of the relationships between the\ud
various cancer care professionals and with their patients, family members and community members. With its strong foundation in traditions of holistic person-centred care, its pivotal location in the system and the sheer size of its workforce, nursing services are set to play a critical role in the more responsive cancer care models of the future. There are, however, a number of challenges to realising the potential that exists for improving the experiences of people diagnosed with cancer
Can we deliver both population-based and personalized approaches to cancer care?
No full textResponding to the individual needs of the person affected by cancer is a fundamental tenet of nursing care. The evidence base to enable highly personalized approaches to the way we provide care has grown enormously in recent years. Today, we have a much better understanding of the mechanisms underpinning health needs of people with cancer, as well as the wide range of environmental, sociocultural, psychological, and biological influences on these needs. This growing evidence base enables us to better target and tailor interventions in increasingly sophisticated ways
What can we do to improve the coordination of care for cancer patients?
No full textThe delivery of cancer services has become increasingly complex as we move to more personalized diagnostic and treatment approaches and cancer is recognized as a chronic disease. Cancer patients today typically come into contact with multiple health services over long periods. Healthcare reforms in many countries also mean that the various services involved in cancer care are funded by a confusing mix of personal, private insurer, and government sources. It is not surprising then that many patients today tell us their cancer experience is disjointed. Importantly, this lack of coordination of cancer care results in poor outcomes that can range from minor inconvenience at best to potentially life-threatening safety incidents at worst
Innovative and pragmatic research designs are critical to advance nursing science
No full textFor many decades, the prevailing view has been that the randomized controlled trial (RCT) is the criterion standard research design. The RCT is a strong and highly desirable research design as it enables researchers to generate the highest level of evidence and allows clinicians to be confident to use research findings in practice. At the same time, the limitations of the RCT design in addressing questions of relevance to nursing are well known. In some cases, it is not feasible or ethical to randomize participants to control and intervention conditions. More and more of our research requires testing of multicomponent interventions, which are quite complex to do within an RCT design. Take cancer-related symptoms as an example. Advances in nursing science mean we now have a much deeper understanding of the multifactorial etiologies, intricate pathophysiologic mechanisms, and multiple environmental and social influences that contribute to symptom experiences. Nursing interventions are becoming increasingly sophisticated to deal with this symptom complexity. Randomized controlled trials can take years to complete, by which time knowledge has advanced and practice has moved on. The time and resources required to conduct an RCT are increasingly being questioned as we face diminishing resources for research and increasing pressure to achieve rapid translation of knowledge into practice. Pragmatic approaches to trialling healthcare interventions have been described in the literature for some decades.1 The popularity of these approaches is growing as we respond to the challenges facing modern healthcare systems..
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