For Immediate Release
May 1, 2009

BUFFALO, NY – Experienced nurse leaders are building a foundation for the next generation of oncology nurses in the Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT) Center at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI). In this intense, innovative program, experienced nurses provide hands-on learning sessions to those beginning their careers.

The results of that program will be shared with nurses from across the nation during the annual Congress of the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS), April 30 – May 3 in San Antonio, TX. Lisa Privitere, RN, OCN, Department of Nursing at RPCI will present, “Development of an Orientation Program in a Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit: Integrating A Large Group of Graduate Nursing Students While Retaining Existing Staff Nurses.”

The newly organized orientation program in the BMT Unit at Roswell Park matched 16 new graduate nurses with 25 experienced nurses and centered a curriculum designed specifically to meet the needs of the transplant patient.

Mini education sessions included short lectures and extensive demonstrations where lists of medications routinely prescribed for BMT patients were distributed to each nurse, and each drug was reviewed in the didactic session. Policies and procedures were presented, reviewed and discussed in detail. Patient care procedures were extensively demonstrated and critiqued. The graduate nurses were immediately able to demonstrate, with confidence, the necessary skills applicable to their practice and had the opportunity to demonstrate their proficiency in more complex patient care. The preceptors appreciated the opportunity to work with the new nurses on direct patient care.

“The orientation gave new nurses essential knowledge and skills to engage in direct patient care. The experienced nurses felt the experience a more gratifying method of relaying their knowledge. Roswell Park’s BMT Center also benefited as a significant number of nurses were retained in the BMT unit,” said Privitere.

Rose Kumpf, RN, OCN, RPCI, also collaborated on this Roswell Park paper.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute, founded in 1898, is the nation’s first cancer research, treatment and education center. The Institute was one of the first cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and remains the only facility with this designation in Upstate New York. RPCI is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers; maintains affiliate sites; and is a partner in national and international collaborative programs. For more information, visit RPCI’s website at http://www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724) or email askrpci@roswellpark.org.

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