Authors (including presenting author) :
Chan WM, Law WK, Wong MC
Affiliation :
Department of Clinical Oncology, Tuen Mun Hospital, New Territories West Cluster
Introduction :
With the growing demand upon healthcare services of Clinical Oncology, our workforce is expanding. Since January 2018, 51 new nurses have joined our big family of Clinical Oncology. In Tuen Mun Hospital, 25 of whom are running in-patient services while 12 are in out-patient services. In Tin Shui Wai Hospital, 14 new nurses are in a newly established ward. As the specialty is broad and profound, recruiting new staff implies providing professional training and education. Series of cancer educational pamphlets published by NGOs for main cancer services are available online and in Cancer Patient Resource Centre, where cancer patients and families can access. These pamphlets illustrate cancers with bilingual medical terms and comprehensible explanation, not only promoting public awareness towards cancers, but also facilitating nurse-patient communication in health education.
Objectives :
(1) To offer convenient access to online pamphlets via electronic gadgets. (2) To equip new nurses with plain terms of oncology for effective nurse-patient communication. (3) To provide preliminary understanding of oncology, preparing new nurses for future advanced studies.
Methodology :
To assemble learning materials in an organized way, a QR code booklet was launched. This booklet consists of individual QR codes of approximately 40 cancer pamphlets, which are classified into 7 categories from types of cancer, cancer treatment to symptom management. Additionally, 2 websites of online cancer pamphlets are listed for studying via computers. The QR code booklets are distributed to 3 wards and 2 day care centres in Tuen Mun Hospital and the newly established ward in Tin Shui Wai Hospital.
Result & Outcome :
50 responses to the booklet evaluation were received. In terms of contents, 88% of the respondents thought the table of contents was useful and denied the need for adding on the contents. 90% of the respondents claimed this booklet could equip nurses with basic knowledge of the specialty, with the applicable examples including cancer statistics, signs and symptoms of cancers and suggested diet. In terms of format design, 90% of respondents were satisfied with the classification of cancer pamphlets while 84% indicated the book size and spacing were appropriate. Positive feedback was received regarding to its contents and format design, which facilitate newcomers to obtain basic learning materials, empowering themselves in nurse-patient communication and future career pathways.
