Nurs-07. Staff Education Through Nursing and Pharmacy Collaboration

Abstract

Even within the focused field of pediatric oncology, there are healthcare providers who lack education regarding the specialized population of children with brain tumors. In order to improve staff knowledge of pediatric neuro-oncology, nursing and pharmacy developed a collaborative Lunch and Learn program to provide additional education. An eight week brain tumor curriculum was developed, and informal sessions grouped by diagnosis were held over lunch between the neuro-oncology nursing team (nurse practitioners and nurse coordinator) and a clinical pharmacy resident. A nurse practitioner provided academic literature and the pharmacy resident did further research and developed an outline for discussion. During these sessions, nursing was able to contribute academic knowledge and clinical experience, while pharmacy presented an overview of each tumor and provided education about medications. After each session, the pharmacy resident presented the information from the Lunch and Learn to all staff oncology pharmacists, which then increased their working knowledge of neuro-oncology as a whole, helping them feel better able to manage this population within their scope of practice. Because this innovative collaboration was so successful in heightening knowledge and awareness of the care and management of pediatric neuro-oncology patients for all those involved, the team now has future plans to utilize a similar model to provide neuro-oncology education to clinic and inpatient RNs.