Academic Nursing Unit Director Professor Mei Krishnasamy will present two papers on behalf of Peter Mac at this month’s International Conference on Cancer Nursing.

Hosted digitally from February 23-25, the theme of ICCN 2022 is ‘Building Sustainability & Resilience: Global Perspectives on Cancer Nursing.’

One paper relates to Professor Krishnasamy and Catherine Devereux's online supportive care resource ‘OlderCan,’ developed for older Australians affected by cancer.

It focuses on ‘This is Me’: a self-reporting resource within OlderCan that allows patients, family or carers to record and share knowledge with their multidisciplinary team.

Enabling patients to share what matter most to them to positively impacts patient experiences and outcomes. It was described by a leading medical oncologist as a “game changer”.

The second paper being presented by Professor Krishnasamy was led by Autograft Nurse Practitioner Trish Joyce.

Funded through the Peter Mac Foundation, the study worked with haematology patients and their carers from Peter Mac and the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

A need was identified for targeted pre-treatment education for new models of care such as outpatient autologous stem cell transplantation, and CART-T cell therapy.

The project used interview and survey data to produce two booklets, which are now available at Peter Mac and the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Both of these nurse-led initiatives brought together consumers and multidisciplinary teams, to target patient and family member's perspectives and experiences. They highlight the important contribution of nurses to Peter Mac’s research activity.

Professor Krishnasamy will present alongside nursing leaders from across the world, including the UK, US, Canada, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Uganda and Israel.

Cancer nursing continues to be in the spotlight at Peter Mac this month, as the Nursing Discovery program seeks to introduce new registered nurses to the cancer nursing field.

Find more information on Nursing Discovery and applications visit: https://petermac.mercury.com.au/ViewPosition.aspx?id=m5fgZVQ8W6U=&jbc=ere