As our leaders debate just how separate the UK will be from the rest of Europe, nurses continue to try to work across boundaries and borders, physical and organisational, to ensure the best outcomes for patients.
Next year, 2020, is the International Year of the Nurse and it is also the bicentenary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, who many regard as the architect of modern nursing. It is very apt, therefore, that the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care (ISNCC) arrives in London for its conference in 2020 (www.isncc.org/page/ICCN2020).
The ISNCC is a global organisation that represents 60 000 oncology nurses worldwide, either as individual members or via partnerships with national and regional cancer nursing societies. The conference's presence in London represents a homecoming for the ISNCC. The late Robert Tiffany OBE, Chief Nursing Officer at The Royal Marsden Hospital, was a founding member of the society and established the first International Conference on Cancer Nursing in London in 1984.
‘We have a responsibility, as both nurses and global citizens, to improve cancer care for all patients, not just those within our direct sphere of inf luence’
He worked tirelessly to establish a global network of cancer nurses. The UK Oncology Nursing Society (UKONS) is proud to carry on this vision of international collaboration by partnering with the ISNCC to deliver the conference. The conference theme is ‘Innovation and inspiration: celebrating the global impact of oncology nurses’, which will be a celebration of international cancer nursing. Approximately 600 delegates are expected who will focus on cancer nursing and its ability to positively affect patients and wider communities. The conference will have a pre-conference programme, plenary speakers, oral presentations, instructional sessions and poster sessions from cancer nurses from across the globe.
In designating 2020 as the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, the World Health Organization has recognised the importance of what nursing has achieved internationally in the modern era, and how crucial nurses are in providing cost-effective and high-quality health care for all. This is particularly true in cancer nursing where a well-trained and diverse oncology nursing workforce has been shown to provide improved care and outcomes across the entire spectrum of cancer incidence, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care. The impact of cancer has been shown to be felt particularly acutely in low- and middle-income countries, where mortality from cancer varies from 72% to 75% (Challinor et al, 2016).
When working in our individual wards and units, it can be easy to be introspective, but international collaboration is an important aspect of modern cancer nursing and we have a responsibility, as both nurses and global citizens, to improve cancer care for all patients, not just those within our direct sphere of influence. The ReCan project (www.cancernurse.eu/research/recan.htm) has shown that there are major differences in the structure of, and support for, cancer nursing across four European nations, with wide variation in cancer nurse education, career opportunities and the scope of cancer nursing practice. This also leads to significant differences in the care that patients with a cancer diagnosis receive.
Collaboration and teamwork are central to nursing patients with increasingly complex needs. International conferences, such as the International Conference on Cancer Nursing, and this year's European Oncology Nursing Society conference in Barcelona, are ideal opportunities for learning, development and networking to ensure patients have the best outcomes. This is a major reason that UKONS is pleased to be working in partnership with ISNCC.