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June 2010
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Partnership trains oncology nurses
As a nurse, Shirley Benjamin always wanted to specialize in the care of cancer patients, a passion fueled by observing how many health professionals in Trinidad and Tobago left their needs unmet. Her passion for finding better ways to improve care led her to enroll in a three-year post-diploma, BScN-linked Oncology Nursing Programme in Trinidad developed by McMaster University’s School of Nursing in partnership with the University of the West Indies (UWI’s) School of Advanced Nursing Education (SANE). The goal of the capacity-building programme is to prepare Trinbagonian nurses for leadership roles in cancer care nursing in Trinidad and Tobago where cancer is a significant health problem among its 1.2 million population. The programme builds on an earlier eight-month experience in 2001 when 12 Trinbagonian nurses participated in McMaster’s on-site oncology nursing programme and became “formidable advocates” for nursing and cancer care in Trinidad and Tobago.
For the past month, Benajmin and three of her nursing colleagues have been at McMaster where they have been exposed to the latest advances in cancer treatment along with first-hand experience in advanced patient care. The oncology programme has received high praise from senior government and nursing officials in Trinidad as well as the nurses themselves. Dr. Terry Mason, an oncologist and public health commissioner in Chicago, described the programme as “a model for the rest of the world.” Dr. Meryl Price, director of SANE, said it “signals a new level of nursing in Trinidad and Tobago.” Carolyn Ingram, an associate professor in the School of Nursing and project co-ordinator, said the nurses strongly value the programme and say it “will be tremendously valuable in advancing their own practice and improving cancer care delivery in their country.” Paula Washington, one of the Trinbagonian nurses, said the programme opened up oncology in a new way to her by “changing my interactions with my patients, my children and my family.” McMaster’s involvement in the project is completed. In keeping with its capacity-building goal, The University of the West Indies will now assume full responsibility for the programme and continue to run it independently this fall. |
(McMaster University published this article on their website (May 31, 2010), featuring nursing students from UWI’s School of Advanced Nursing Education (SANE). It is reproduced with permission.
Over the past three years, the programme was delivered at SANE through a blend of face-to-face and distance learning. At the start and end of each semester, McMaster faculty traveled to Trinidad for two weeks to teach. For the balance of each semester, McMaster faculty taught from Hamilton.