Caribbean nurses certified in paediatric cancer care

Twenty-seven nurses from five Caribbean countries have successfully completed specialised training in the care of children with cancer and blood disorders.

The nurses completed the Paediatric Haematology/Oncology Nursing Diploma programme at the University of the West Indies School of Nursing in Trinidad, with the last cohort finishing in April.

The nurses, who are from Barbados, The Bahamas, Jamaica, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines, and who completed the specialised one-year programme, were part of SickKids-Caribbean Initiative. Twenty-six of the 27 nurses participated in this initiative.

In 2013, with the support of SickKids Foundation, the SickKids-Caribbean Initiative (SCI) – a partnership with the University of the West Indies (UWI), ministries of Health, hospitals and institutions in six Caribbean countries– was established. This partnership focuses on building sustainable local capacity to diagnose, treat, and manage paediatric cancers and blood disorders.

Regional bank CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank also came on board with the initiative pledging US$1 million over a seven-year period (2014-2020) through its charitable arm, FirstCaribbean International ComTrust Foundation. As nurse training partner, the bank funded the full training for all but one of the 27 nurses.

Colette Delaney, chair of the FirstCaribbean International ComTrust Foundation and chief executive officer of CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank said in a media release: “We are truly proud to be a partner with SCI and to support the life-changing work they have been doing across the region to ensure that hundreds of children diagnosed with cancers or blood disorders have access to the very best care delivered by trained professionals.

“The work of the dedicated doctors and nurses of SCI have greatly improved the outcomes and enhanced the quality of care and quality of life for so many of our most vulnerable citizens – our children.”

Officials of SickKids paid a courtesy call on Delaney, updating her on the great strides made in the treatment and management of paediatric cancer cases across the region. To date, the SCI has significantly improved the diagnosis and care of scores of children across the region, the release said. In Jamaica and St Lucia alone 57,790 newborn sickle cell disease screening tests were conducted.

In addition, seven telemedicine centres were established, 302 consultations have taken place, 179 specialised diagnostic tests were done on patients newly diagnosed with leukaemia, 528 patients were registered in local oncology databases, 21 lectures held on the work of SCI and three doctors trained under the haematology/oncology fellowship programme.

The initiative has also added to the library of regional medical literature and resources with the completion of five supportive care guidelines and five clinical care guidelines documents, the release said. Seven custom built local data bases were established in SCI partner hospitals to record and track patients and seven local data managers hired and trained in those territories.