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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Med Paediatr Oncol 2022; 43(03): 280-284
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1748938
Policy Brief

Florence Nightingale Needs Your Attention: A Framework for Improving Pediatric Oncology Nursing in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Venkatraman Radhakrishnan 
1   Department of Medical and Pediatric Oncology, Cancer Institute (WIA), Adyar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Sanjeeva Gunasekera
2   Department of Pediatric Oncology, National Cancer Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka
,
Catherine G. Lam
3   Health Systems and Asia Pacific Regional Programs, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, United States
,
Monnie Abraham 
4   Global Nursing, Global Pediatric Medicine Department, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, United States
,
Scott C. Howard
5   College of Nursing, University of Tennessee College of Health Sciences, Memphis, Tennessee, United States
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Executive Summary

  • Children with cancer in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) succumb to their disease four times more often than those in high-income countries (HIC).[1]

  • Ninety percent of all pediatric cancers occur in LMIC.[2]

  • In HIC, more than 80% of children with cancer are cured, but in LMIC only 26% survive.[3]

  • Nurses play a vital role in the care of children with cancer.

  • Causes of low survival in LMIC include shortage of dedicated pediatric cancer centers, trained pediatric oncology team members, inadequate supportive care, abandonment of treatment, excess relapse due to poor adherence, and lack of understanding as well as capacity to implement complex treatment requirements.

  • Pediatric oncology nurses play a key role in mitigating these causes of excess treatment failure.[1] [4]

  • Pediatric oncology nursing in LMIC faces a crisis from workforce shortage and lack of standards.

  • The shortage of pediatric oncology nurses in LMIC results from low salaries, lack of career progression, lack of training opportunities, limited structured training programs, long irregular working hours, unsafe working conditions, and in some cases lack of respect for the profession.[5] [6]

  • Baseline standards for pediatric oncology nursing care are well established, but most hospitals in LMIC do not meet the standards.[7]

  • The time for action is now.

  • There is an urgent need to ensure that baseline standards for pediatric oncology nurses are met in LMIC to achieve the World Health Organization's (WHO) goal of improving childhood cancer survival in LMIC to 60% by 2030.[8]

  • Effective interventions proven to improve pediatric oncology nursing and empower nurses in LMIC include onsite subspecialty oncology nurse education and mentoring, implementation of a career ladder with concrete steps for advancement, and adherence to safety standards for handling of chemotherapy as well as blood products.[7]

Venkatraman Radhakrishnan and Sanjeeva Gunasekera equally contributed to the manuscript (Co-first authors)




Publication History

Article published online:
02 July 2022

© 2022. Indian Society of Medical and Paediatric Oncology. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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