Nurses are vital members of every health care team, especially in cancer treatment, side effect management, and palliative care. Many cancer patients in Tanzania present for care at late stages of the disease, with wounds that are difficult to manage. In light of this, nurses in Tanzania identified the need for nursing protocols on palliative wound care and palliative care as necessary steps to elevate the quality of care they provide.
In September 2019, Global Cancer Program members Kimberly Baltzell, PhD, MS, RN, Linda Abramovitz, MS, RN, FAAN, and Stella Bialous, RN, DrPH, FAAN, along with alumni Stephanie Kennell-Heiling, FNP, and Susan Barbour, MS, RN, FNP, received a $100,000 one-year gift from the Celgene Cancer Care Links™ Program to support a nurse training program in Tanzania.
This project, entitled “Implementing and Evaluating a Palliative Wound Care and Palliative Care Nursing Educational Program at Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI),” will assist nurses in providing evidence-based care to ensure patients are as comfortable as possible during their treatment. Because ORCI cares for 1,000 to 1,200 patients per week, the project has the potential to positively impact the care of thousands of patients per year.
The group of School of Nursing faculty and alumni leading this project represents nursing in UCSF's Global Cancer Program and have spearheaded initiatives to support nurses at partner sites. Specifically, this new award builds upon previous palliative wound care training conducted in April 2019. During this 5-day course, Stephanie Kennell-Heiling and Susan Barbour trained nursing staff at ORCI on palliative wound care, leadership, communication, and self-care for health professionals. The training, a collaboration between ORCI and UCSF, was organized to cover previously identified knowledge and skill gaps based on feedback from ORCI nurses. The course consisted of lectures, demonstrations, case presentation, and clinical practice. Through an iterative process, nurses at ORCI developed a wound assessment and treatment tool, and the nursing administration at ORCI will be working to implement this tool for patients with wounds. When asked what they gained from the experience, one nurse commented, "I learned about how to talk with patients with severe pain or someone who feels bad due to his challenges like spiritual, socially, economically, and quality of life. I learned to treat patients with cancer with dignity."
The project also draws on Baltzell’s midwifery project, Global Action in Nursing (GAIN) in Malawi, and will adapt key components of GAIN to the cancer context. The Global Cancer Program congratulates our nursing colleagues on this award and their efforts to empower nurses supporting cancer patients around the world!
