Delivering cancer-nursing education to regional, rural and remote area nurses in Queensland

Purpose: To evaluate nurses' perceptions of an intensive mode postgraduate cancer nursing education program targeting regional and rural registered and enrolled nurses. Design: Cross sectional. Setting: Urban non-government cancer control agency. Sample: 147 nurses, of who 95% were female, with a mean age of 45 years and a mean of 13 years experience in oncology nursing, 40% of nurses worked in highly accessible areas, and 57% in accessible to very remote areas. Method. Nurses were surveyed using self-report measures assessing recalled impact of the education program on nursing practice, effectiveness in meeting nurses educational needs and perceived need for further training in cancer care. Findings: Participants rated the cancer- nursing program as highly effective in improving their knowledge about cancer, professional networking, information about support/referral sources and knowledge of other health facilities. Other benefits described included increased confidence in cancer nursing skills and improved community referral skills. Barriers to implementing new skills were lack of interest, motivation or cooperation from work colleagues, organisational structure or procedural policies and financial or time constraints. Respondents requested further training in pain and symptom management, palliative care, psychosocial aspects of cancer, and communication skills with Brisbane-based Queensland Cancer Fund courses and seminars in their local area as a preferred delivery method. Conclusions: Results suggest that intensive mode cancer nursing education programs are a preferred and effective learning mode for regional and rural nurses. (author abstract)