Oncology trained nurses are deployed in different units. Using a team nursing model, each team will have a team leader who will facilitate the care plan for all new cases to ensure that problems and outcomes are appropriately and comprehensively identified.

Diagnostic and Therapeutic Treatments
Oncology nurses perform more than 24000 diagnostic and therapeutic treatments and procedures annually at the ATU Ambulatory Treatment Unit (ATU).

ATU nurses are trained to administer intensive chemotherapy protocols via the peripheral lines and central venous devices.

ATU nurses also staffed the Apheresis Suite whereby procedures such as plateletpheresis, peripheral stem cell harvesting, leucopheresis and plasma exchange are carried out.

Patient Education and Support
Nurses provide patient education which serves to equip them with the essential knowledge and self-care skills so as to ensure their compliance with treatment, appropriate self-care, timely and accurate reporting of symptoms or health changes. Patients are taught the disease process, side effects of treatment, potential impact on their families, appropriate skills to meet these needs as well as details regarding signs and symptoms to report.

Oncology nurses also provide emotional and psychosocial support to their patients and families.

Clinical Trials
During clinical trials conducted by the medical clinicians, oncology nurses play an active role by reviewing and reinforcing proposed protocols prior to implementation and identifying potential problems in implementation. In addition the nurses see how they can meet patients’ needs during the administration of protocol.

Operating theatre and endoscopic suite services
Nurses at the OT and endoscopy suite provide comprehensive care for patients undergoing diagnostic, interventional, and surgical procedures during the pre, intra and post-operative/ procedural phrases of care.

Our OT caters to day surgeries, while the endoscopy suite caters to a number of diagnostic, minor ano-rectal and endo-anal procedures.

Services at Specialist Oncology Clinics
Nurses at SOCs attend to more than 11,100 new attendances annually. Our SOC nurses also provide wound management services to the patients. These include the management of breast fungating wounds, extravasation wounds and open thoracic window of thoracotomy wounds. In addition, they also play the educator role and teach the caregivers how to dress the wounds at home.

Nurse Clinician Services
Our nurse clinicians play an indispensable role in ensuring that the delivery of the specialty service to the patients is cost-effective and conducted professionally for better patient outcomes. Our breast and lung nurse clinicians assess, develop, implement and evaluate nursing practices in their selected field of specialty. They work with nurse managers, nurse educator and other healthcare professionals in assessing and managing the needs of the patients requiring the specialty service. They also collaborate with nurse managers and nurse educator in planning, implementing and evaluating the education programmes and written educational resources for patients, significant others and the public.

Our advanced practice nurses, which are essentially expert nurses works collaboratively with the physicians to diagnose, treat and manage a group of patients. They form an integral part of the clinical team. Besides their clinical role, the APNs are also involved in research and teaching of nurses and patients.

Nursing Services in Radiation Oncology
Our radiation oncology nurses assist/ perform a number of nursing procedures, which include lung brachytherapy, gynaecology gammamed, dressings, frekka tube insertions and injections.

Quality Management Services
One of our goals is to deliver cost-effective, safe and quality care to our patients. Quality audits are carried out regularly in our nursing units with the aim of ensuring a high consistent standard of nursing care and service. Patient satisfaction surveys are conducted annually at ATU and SOC to measure patients’ expectation and their level of satisfaction with the nursing services. Feedback is also collated from the patient feedback forms. There is also a loop back system in the evaluation of patients’ feedback for continual improvement. By engaging the nurses in quality activities, we hope to promote a sense of creativity, critical thinking, as well as cultivating a learning culture in quality improvement among nurses.