Delhi Cancer Institute to train oncology nurses to treat cancer patients

NEW DELHI: Doctors at the Delhi State Cancer Institute said that they have launched the first programme in the country that will train oncology nurses to care for cancer patients. The nurses will be given the training to treat patients with cancer, and this training will be according to international standards.

Dr Pragya Shukla, head of the department of clinical oncology at the Delhi State Cancer Institute said, "While the doctors give details as to what medicines have to be given and how a cancer patient has to be treated, the execution of the care is primarily in the hands of the nurses who are dealing with them on a daily basis so for that their proper training is very essential".

She added that since oncology is a growing field we are constantly changing the way we treat patients. But nurses, on the other hand, only get training once. When doctors prescribe medication, the chain becomes weak when the patient is not given the care he or she needs. "Doctors don't meet patients as often as nurses and the nurses work as a mediator between patients and doctors, so it's imperative to make the nurses more skilled and trained for the same," she added.

According to the New Indian Express, 15 nurses will be given the 30-day training programme. If this training is a success, Dr Shukla added that further programmes can be planned and implemented. "It's a very holistic programme where training will be imparted from angles including scientific, psychological and ethical perspectives," she said. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the institute and a private firm to provide training to the nurses.