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Nursing

To improve patient care and survival in low- and middle-income countries, the Global Nursing Program promotes implementing pediatric hematology-oncology nursing standards at St. Jude partner sites.

The program’s mission is to continuously improve nursing care for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases by collaborating and supporting health care organizations globally to prepare competent and empowered nurses and nurse leaders. To achieve this mission, the program categorizes goals into five thematic areas: education, patient-centered care, leadership, research, and network and collaboration.

Program Initiatives

Soon after the International Outreach Program launched in the early 1990s, the need for specialized pediatric oncology nursing education was identified at St. Jude partner sites. In 2015, we moved beyond the earlier “twinning” model, and we now engage with nurses from all St. Jude regions to network and implement initiatives to address the gap. Some of the St. Jude Global Nursing initiatives are described below.

Improving Children’s Oncology-Hematology Nursing (ICON)

ICON is a comprehensive country-specific initiative launched in 2022 to examine the complex dynamics of pediatric hematology-oncology nursing to understand the systems and identify the barriers to delivering sustainable, high-quality nursing care. This study aims to assess the current pediatric hematology-oncology situation in select hospitals and to formulate country-specific strategic directions for pediatric hematology-oncology nursing. The ICON project has been implemented in 27 hospitals in Brazil and is being implemented in approximately 15 hospitals in Pakistan.

Tiered Competency Assessment Program

St. Jude Global Nursing is developing a tiered competency assessment tool for pediatric oncology-hematology nurses based on Benner’s framework of novice to expert and adaptable to the global environment. This framework will guide nurses practicing at different proficiency levels in various settings and guide the development of nursing orientation and continuing education programs.

Tiered Nurse Education Program

St. Jude Global Nursing has adopted a tiered model to provide educational programs for nurses globally. These programs range from self-paced courses run through Cure4Kids to fellowship programs for nurses. We have trained more than 500 nurses through various Cure4Kids courses and are implementing new fellowship programs.

International EBP Nursing Fellowship

This unique program combines expertise from St. Jude Global Nursing and the nursing team at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The program aims to strengthen evidence-based practice competencies among pediatric oncology nurses in low- and middle-income countries to develop change agents who positively impact patient care and the work environment. Seven nurses from seven St. Jude Global regional programs are enrolled. In addition to virtual learning, participants will visit St. Jude twice and be connected to nursing peers from St. Jude throughout the program.

Competency-Based Nurse Educator Program

The Competency-Based Nurse Educator Training Program is based on the Nurse Educator Core Competencies framework developed by the World Health Organization to equip nurse educators with the knowledge and skills to develop orientation programs for newly hired nurses and continuing education programs within our partner institutions. This updated program helps strengthen the nurse educator’s role in supporting pediatric oncology bedside nurses in limited-resource clinical settings. Before this program launched in 2008, no participating hospitals in Latin America offered formal orientation programs for pediatric oncology nurses. Today, we have trained 64 nurse educators from over 29 hospitals in 25 countries.

Standardized Chemotherapy/Biotherapy Certificate Education for Nurses

St. Jude Global Nursing collaborates with the Association of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses (APHON) to bring the pediatric chemotherapy and biotherapy curriculum to nurses in Spanish and Portuguese. Today, more than 200 nurses in Mexico and Central and South America have been trained through the Spanish course. Of these, 29 eligible nurses have been trained as instructors. Twenty-six nurses from Brazil have been trained to support the Portuguese course. Work continues to optimize the process and develop a sustainable instructor network globally.

Nursing Networks

St. Jude Global has four regional nursing networks: the Latin American Nurse Educator Network (LANEN), the Pediatric Oncology East and Mediterranean (POEM) Group Nursing Workgroup, the Euro Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nursing Working Group and the China and Asia Pacific Nursing Group (CARP).

LANEN is an outgrowth of the multifaceted regional program in Chile. The network currently includes 41 active members from 29 centers in 25 countries.
The POEM Nursing Workgroup holds a biannual nursing workshop to promote scholarly inquiry, critical appraisal and evidence-based practice in collaborative learning among nurses in Eastern Mediterranean institutions.
The Euro Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nursing Working Group was established in October 2018 at the 2nd Meeting of Experts in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology. The group comprises nurse leaders from more than 10 countries.
CAPR was established in 2020 during the Global Alliance Annual Meeting. Numerous webinars have been organized through the network, in which nurses from the region presented important nursing initiatives.