Preparing the ground for bespoke nursing training in advanced renal cell carcinoma care (RCC4Nurses): An international prospective study

Celia Diez De Los Rios de la Serna; Constantina Papadopoulou; Amanda Drury; Wendy Oldenmenger; Theresa Wiseman; Daniel Kelly; Grigorios Kotronoulas

doi:10.1016/j.soncn.2024.151749

Preparing the ground for bespoke nursing training in advanced renal cell carcinoma care (RCC4Nurses): An international prospective study

Semin Oncol Nurs. 2024 Nov 7:151749. doi: 10.1016/j.soncn.2024.151749. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Celia Diez De Los Rios de la Serna¹, Constantina Papadopoulou², Amanda Drury³, Wendy Oldenmenger⁴, Theresa Wiseman⁵, Daniel Kelly⁶, Grigorios Kotronoulas⁷

Affiliations

¹ European Oncology Nursing Society (EONS), Brussels, Belgium; School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom. Electronic address: Celia.DiezdelosRiosdelaSerna@glasgow.ac.uk.
² School of health and life sciences University of the West of Scotland, United Kingdom.
³ School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland.
⁴ Department of Medical Oncology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
⁵ The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
⁶ Cardiff University, School of Healthcare Sciences, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
⁷ School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom.

PMID: 39516062
DOI: 10.1016/j.soncn.2024.151749

Abstract

Objectives: Nurses require specialist knowledge and skills to effectively support an increasing population of people affected by advanced renal cell cancer (aRCC). RCC4Nurses was a three-phase project that aimed to develop bespoke training in aRCC for nurses in Europe. Phase 1 examined pre-existing educational programs in kidney cancer, then developed a curriculum of core education topics in aRCC care to suit generalist and specialist nurses' education needs.

Methods: Phase 1 employed a prospective design that involved two parts. Part 1 was a scoping review of educational programs developed for multidisciplinary health professionals in kidney cancer/RCC. Findings of Part 1 formed the basis for Part 2, which was a three-round Delphi study that involved experts by personal experience or profession in aRCC, who rated the importance of a range of education topics and education methods for inclusion in the developing RCC4Nurses.

Results: The scoping review identified eight education programs via two published reports and six online resources. Existing programs had limitations in accessibility, recency and target professional groups; none of them was developed specifically for nurses. Program content was primarily focused on diagnostic, treatment and management procedures in kidney cancer. Fourteen educational topics were derived from the review and evaluated during Round 1 of the Delphi by 47 experts. By Round 3, 17 topics had iteratively reached consensus for inclusion within RCC4Nurses. Experts showed preference to problem-solving and clinical-scenario learning methods, but not reflective practice learning.

Conclusions: Given the dearth of up-to-date, evidence-based training for nurses in aRCC, we have prepared the ground to develop a bespoke training course in this area of practice.

Implications for nursing practice: The RCC4Nurses project will offer accessible, state-of-the-art education to registered nurses in Europe to help enhance nursing competency in aRCC and enhance the standard of care provided to people affected by aRCC.

Keywords: Delphi technique; Education; Kidney cancer; Kidney neoplasms; Oncology nursing; Renal cell carcinoma; Scoping review.