Nursing

Nurses are part of an integrated multidisciplinary team of health care professionals in the Oncology, Hematology and BMT Program providing comprehensive, individualized nursing care to infants, children and adolescents with cancer and blood disorders. Nursing care not only focuses on the child, but also includes family members as active partners on the health care team. The nursing team consists of staff nurses both inpatient and outpatient, advanced practice nurses in the roles of Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Practitioner Complex Hematology and Hemophilia, and Nurse Clinician Long Term Follow-up, Clinical Nurse Coordinators, Clinical Nurse Educators, Discharge Planning Nurse and Apheresis Clinical Nurse Coordinator.

Nursing services are provided through direct patient care, education, research and outreach. Nurses provide both oversight and continuity for the daily requirements of patient care. Nurses are meticulous in providing the administration of treatment and supportive care, being the conduit that keeps the treatment on course, while educating patients and families every step of the way to help them understand what is coming next. Nurses help to position the patients for the very best possible response to treatment to ultimately increase long term survival of patients and to enhance their quality of life.

Direct patient care is provided to patients and families who are admitted to 3B (inpatient unit) and who receive treatment in the Oncology and Hematology Outpatient Clinic. Oncology or hematology patients who are admitted to other units within Children’s receive oncology and hematology nursing support as required. Contact and care of the patients and families begins either prior to or upon admission, through initial diagnosis and treatment, to long term follow-up, or palliative care and bereavement follow-up. Active treatment for patients and families in the Oncology/Hematology Program may range from days or months to years, depending on the diagnosis.

Nursing in this program provides education to patients and families, students and staff. Some of the resources developed for patient and family education are the Family Handbook, teaching flow sheets for newly diagnosed oncology and bone marrow transplant patients, Central Line teaching materials and Palliative Care Guidelines. Educational support is provided to nursing schools for clinical placements and lecture content. Staff nurses are involved in this teaching and contribute a great deal to precepting and teaching students. Oncology/hematology clinical nurse educators have developed and provide education for staff within the program and the hospital. These programs are:

Pediatric Oncology/Hematology Orientation – Basic Level Workshop
Pediatric Oncology Advanced Level Workshop
Chemotherapy Workshops
Bone Marrow Transplant Education Series

Oncology nursing at Children’s has an integral role in the Children’s Oncology Group protocols (international clinical trials organization developing leading pediatric cancer treatments), as well as other accepted research studies within the hospital.

Oncology and hematology nurses are the primary consultants for pediatric oncology and hematology nursing in the province. Phone consultation is provided to nurses around the province involving direct patient care issues, education and research. Education programs are provided to agencies and centres around the province to assist in the provision of care and support to pediatric oncology and hematology patients, and written educational materials are provided to other agencies on a wide range of topics. The St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital website offers an on-line pediatric oncology nursing course which is free for all health care professionals.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in nursing with our team, please contact Grace Chan, Program Manager at gchan@cw.bc.ca.

Page updated September 2009

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