Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Nurse Faculty Beliefs and Teaching Practices for the Care of the Cancer Survivor in Undergraduate Nursing Curricula

Journal of Cancer Education volume 32, pages 764–770 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

As the number of individuals surviving cancer continues to rise, short- and long-term effects of cancer and its treatment that result in physical, psychosocial, and spiritual needs unique to the care of the cancer survivor has not been addressed in nursing curricula. The Institute of Medicine (IOM, 2005) recommends that all health care providers are educated on the care of cancer survivors. This descriptive qualitative study explored faculty beliefs and practices regarding the inclusion of caring for the cancer survivor in undergraduate nursing curricula. Faculty knowledge of the term “cancer survivor” and their beliefs and practices regarding the placement of theory and clinical experiences on cancer survivorship were explored through face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Qualitative content analysis revealed themes and patterns related to the barriers and facilitators for disseminating information on the gap in content on care of the cancer survivor. Seven themes emerged from the content analysis of the interviews. These were as follows: (1) descriptions of cancer survivorship; (2) beliefs on inclusion of cancer survivorship care within undergraduate nursing curriculum; (3) established content on cancer survivorship care: teaching practices; (4) gaps in content on cancer survivorship care; (5) lack of supportive literature on cancer survivorship care; (6) clinical sites providing opportunities for cancer survivorship care: planned versus unplanned; and (7) barriers and facilitators to the inclusion of cancer survivorship in undergraduate nursing curricula. This study reveals the need for faculty education on the care of cancer survivors and a revision of undergraduate curriculum content.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price includes VAT (Canada)

References

  1. Chubak J, Tuzzio L, Hsu C, Alfano CM, Rabin BA, Hornbrook MC, Nekhlyudov L (2012) Providing care for cancer survivors in integrated health care delivery systems: practices, challenges, and research opportunities. J Oncol Pract 8(3):184–189. doi:10.1200/JOP.2011.000312

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. DeSantis CE, Lin CC, Mariotto AB, Siegel RL, Stein KD, Kramer JL, Jemal A (2014) Cancer treatment and survivorship statistics, 2014. CA Cancer J Clin 64:252–271. doi:10.3322/caac.21235

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (2005) From cancer patient to cancer survivor: lost in transition. Report recommendations. Retrieved from http://iom.edu/Reports/2005/From-Cancer-Patient-to-Cancer-Survivor-Lost-in-Transition.aspx

  4. Klemp JR, Frazier LM, Glennon C, Trunecek E, Irwin M (2011) Improving cancer survivorship care: oncology nurses’ educational needs and preferred methods of learning. J Cancer Educ 26:234–242. doi:10.1007/s13187-011-0193-3

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Rowland JH, Hewitt M, Ganz PA (2006) Cancer survivorship: a new challenge in delivering quality cancer care. J Clin Oncol 24(32):5101–5104. doi:10.1200/JCO.2006.09.2700

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Morgan MA (2009) Cancer survivorship: history, quality-of-life issues, and the evolving multidisciplinary approach to implementation of cancer survivorship care plans. Oncol Nurs Forum 36(4):429–436. doi:10.1188/09.ONF.429-436

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Such Lockhart J, Galioto M, Oberleitner MG, George K, Van Deusen-Morrison JK, Davis A, Mayer DK (2013) A national survey of oncology content in prelicensure registered nurse programs. J Nurs Educ 52(7):383–390. doi:10.3928/01484834-20130529-01

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Ferrell BR, Virani R, Smith S, Juarez G (2003) The role of oncology nursing to ensure quality care for cancer survivors: a report commissioned by the national cancer policy board and institute of medicine. Oncol Nurs Forum 30(1):E1–E11. doi:10.1188/03.ONF.E1-E11

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Sandelowski M (2000) Whatever happened to qualitative description? Res Nurs Health 23:334–340. doi:10.1002/1098-240X(200008)23:4<334::AID-NUR9>3.0.CO;2-G

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Morse JM (1995) The significance of saturation. Qual Health Res 5(2):147–149. doi:10.1177/104973239500500201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Polit DF, Beck CT (2012) Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice, 9th edn. Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadephia, PA

    Google Scholar 

  12. Bowen GA (2008) Naturalistic inquiry and the saturation concept: research note. Qual Res 8(1):137–152. doi:10.1177/1468794107085301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Hays DG, Singh AA (2012) Qualitative inquiry in clinical and educational settings. The Guilford Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  14. Lincoln YS, Guba EG (1985) Naturalistic inquiry. Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA

    Google Scholar 

  15. Krippenendorff K (2013) Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology, 3rd edn. Sage Publications, Los Angeles, CA

    Google Scholar 

  16. Cooper JM, Loeb SJ, Smith CA (2010) The primary care nurse practitioner and cancer survivorship care. J Am Acad Nurse Pract 22:394–402. doi:10.1111/j.1745-7599.2010.00528.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. McCorkle R, Ercolano E, Lazenby M, Schulman-Green D, Schilling L, Lorig K, Wagner E (2011) Self-management: enabling and empowering patients living with cancer as a chronic illness. CA Cancer J Clin 61(1):50–62. doi:10.3322/caac.20093

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Donofrio Angelucci D (2013) The role of PTs in cancer survivor programs. PT Motion 24–31:19

    Google Scholar 

  19. Uijtdehaage S, Hauer KE, Stuber M, Go VL, Rajagopalan S, Wilkerson L (2009) Preparedness for caring of cancer survivors: a multi-institutional study of medical students and oncology fellows. J Cancer Educ 24:28–32. doi:10.1080/08858190802665260

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. Vincent’s College, 2800 Main Street, Bridgeport, CT, 06606, USA

    Mary E. Dietmann

  2. 42 May Circle, Trumbull, CT, 06611, USA

    Mary E. Dietmann

Authors
  1. Mary E. Dietmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mary E. Dietmann.

Ethics declarations

Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was obtained as well as individual consent from the participants who agreed to be interviewed for this study.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Dietmann, M.E. Nurse Faculty Beliefs and Teaching Practices for the Care of the Cancer Survivor in Undergraduate Nursing Curricula. J Canc Educ 32, 764–770 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-016-1074-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-016-1074-6

Keywords

  • Cancer survivorship
  • Nursing education
  • Nursing education and cancer survivorship
  • Teaching practices on cancer survivorship

Search

Navigation