Keeping Up With Cancer Research to Provide Patients With Up-to-Date Care

An oncology nurse recommends that remaining aware of new and ongoing research is part of the job of an oncology nurse or advanced practice provider (APP).

Despite the busy schedules of oncology nurses and APPs, Jessie Desir, PhD, RN, AMB-BC, OCN, spoke with Oncology Nursing News about keeping up to date with the latest oncology research. Desir suggested that oncology nurses and APPs continue to read research from clinical trials in order to stay informed on how to treat patients.

Additionally, Desir advised that organizations like ASCO provide recent and relevant developments in breast cancer care. She also suggested that oncology nurses and APPs monitor updates from similar organizations such as ESMO to remain informed of advancements coming from other countries.

According to Desir, doing so is paramount to providing the best care and education to patients.

Transcript

We’re very busy. So APPs and nurses, we’re very busy within our clinics, academic centers. How do we keep track? It’s very important. I have a PhD degree, and I really highlight the critical role of nurses in ensuring that we stay up to date, especially with clinical trials.

And that is how we are empowered, knowledgeable of what is available, is staying up to date with different organizations like ASCO, just to name one, and not saying that ASCO is the only one, but ASCO.

Even understanding what ESMO is presenting, not just here for the United States, but what’s happening across the seas, in our neighboring Europe, so that we know what are treatment and especially important pipelines for the breast cancer landscape: what is out there, what’s coming up, who are our patient population that may benefit.

So it is imperative that nurses and APPs stay up to date so that we can share that knowledge with our patient population.

This transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.