Following a successful pilot at Champalimaud Centre in Lisbon, Portugal, the EONS / ABC Global Alliance Fellowship Programme for Nurses is seeking comprehensive cancer centres willing to host a nurse on a short-term fellowship (up to three months).
Purpose
The Fellowship Programme will offer cancer nurses from lower- and middle-income countries (LMIC) in Europe and elsewhere the opportunity to experience working in multidisciplinary teams in accredited centres in Europe.
The experience will increase their knowledge, provide a level of professional development not otherwise available to them, and a good overview of all the issues involved in the running of a successful Cancer Unit. Ultimately, it will improve the quality and consistency of metastatic breast cancer care in the Fellow’s home country.
Content of the Fellowship Visit
The Fellowship nurse will be attached to a clinical team working with metastatic breast cancer patients. Depending on the host country’s registration requirements, the visiting nurse may be restricted to an observer role. The host unit will provide a supervisor / mentor to help ensure the nurse meets her / his learning goals.
The nurse will receive relevant educational and background material before the visit. During her / his time at the host centre, the nurse should participate in the daily activities of the host unit, including:
- Weekly rounds, multidisciplinary meetings
- All aspects of the clinical pathway – outpatient clinics, inpatient clinics, survivorship and follow-up clinics, information sessions;
- Any education or well-being events that focus on living with advanced/metastatic breast cancer;
- Any resources or information packs related to patient with breast cancer/advanced breast cancer;
- Digital applications used to support patients;
- Education tools available concerning caring for patients with breast cancer/advanced breast cancer.
If possible, the Fellowship nurse could be included and involved in any relevant research or service innovation projects (on advanced breast cancer).
The Centres should be identified to represent centres of excellence with which the ABC Global Alliance, EONS and ESO will co-operate for the development of the programme.
Selection of Fellowship nurses
When host site agreements are in place, the Fellowship programme will be publicised to EONS and ABC Global Alliance members and directly to relevant countries, centres and individuals. The application form will be available on the ABC Global Alliance website.
Candidates must have:
- at least two years’ experience in clinical cancer nursing
- approval from their current employer.
Priority will be given to cancer nurses coming from countries that do not offer specialist training in cancer nursing, and / or to cancer nurses interested in a research project focusing on advanced breast cancer.
Candidate applications will be evaluated by ABC Global Alliance and EONS, and those deemed worthy of a fellowship will be matched with a suitable host centre, with criteria including language, culture, and learning goals. The host centre will be offered the opportunity to interview the candidate, if desired. The exact timing of the fellowship will be agreed between the host centre and the candidate.
ABC Global Alliance will provide an allowance to cover the nurse’s living expenses during the fellowship visit. Travel and accommodation costs will funded at the discretion of the ABC Global Alliance.
Feedback from the Nurse Fellowship pilot
Nurse Carcelina Magule Cumba from Mozambique participated in the pilot Fellowship at Champalimaud Clinical Center, Lisbon, before taking up the role of head nurse in the new Unidade de Mama breast unit at Hospital Central de Maputo.
Here’s what she said about her experience (translated from Portuguese):
“It is important to emphasize here the importance of internships in our professional lives, as well as the role of nurses in each patient's life, given that this work performed by nurses is crucial to the patient's well-being…[Since my return from Champalimaud,] I am implementing preoperative and postoperative preparation techniques, as well as counselling on how to deal with a positive breast cancer diagnosis and the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. I learned more than I expected to learn, and for that, I am immensely grateful for the opportunity.”
Interested? Get in touch
For more details of how your centre could host a Fellowship nurse, or if you have any questions, please email
Adèle Gautier, project lead at ABC Global Alliance agautier@abcglobalalliance.org
Or EONS Secretariat Nikolina.Dodlek@cancernurse.eu