SuzanneFalcom.jpg

"I moved to the United Arab Emirates from the Gold Coast University Hospital, Queensland in November 2014. I was an ADAC facilitator and was just beginning to develop new ways to use the learning resources that were available on the eviQ Education site. Since then I have discovered that there are no limits to how these amazing resources can be utilised. It just needs a little imagination. I now work in Abu Dhabi Health Services (SEHA) at Tawam Hospital, which is the leading referral cancer centre in the United Arab Emirates. It has two adult inpatient units, one paediatric inpatient unit, an adult infusion centre and paediatric infusion centre, breast care centre, radiation centre, and the only palliative care unit in the UAE.

How have I used the eviQ resources? These are some of the ways that I have found how to use them:

Central Venous Access Devices:

Nurses who care for patients with a CVAD, complete the online modules then attend a 4-hour simulation workshop with skills stations where they practice flushing and locking, drawing blood, troubleshooting, maintaining patency, de-clotting and removal of a PICC.

Participants are then required to seek clinical practice in their unit with their clinical resource nurse with the intention of gaining competency.

Non-Oncology Nurses:

All nurses caring for patients prescribed antineoplastic drugs in the non-oncology settings complete the ADAC for non-oncology patients. These modules I have introduced in a Rheumatology and Immunology Infusion Centre in Al Ain Hospital.

Oncology Nurse Program:

All oncology nurses in SEHA complete the Handling Antineoplastic Drugs and Related Waste, CVAD and ADAC modules as their core competencies, and I have also included these into an upskilling program of 13 weeks for new nurses which ends with two 8hour simulation workshops, Venous Access in Cancer Care and ADAC.

Radiation Oncology:

Using the radiation modules, I developed an Introduction to Radiation Oncology Program that required the participant to complete a module, read a related journal article specifically chosen, then attend to a 90minute ‘speak with an expert’ session including a review of the article. This program included a tour of the radiation therapy department and involved other specialities such as psychologists, speech therapists, nutritionists, and radiation therapists.

Paediatric Oncology:

Paediatric oncology nurses at Tawam Hospital also complete the Paediatric modules as professional development only, but I am hoping to modify this in 2018.

Applying the evidence:

ONP-ADAC2-2.png

The nurses attending this program are expected to demonstrate in their daily clinical care and discussions with other health professionals the ability to use evidence-based knowledge. We use eviQ Treatments on Line as one of the resources that nurses are asked to support them in patient care and managing symptoms.

Other health professionals:

The dieticians in oncology have also expressed interest in completing the Malnutrition in Cancer Care.

Beyond eviQ:

IMG-8534-2-1.png

In 2016 I facilitated a working group of paediatric and adult oncology nurses to develop a Antineoplastic Drug Administration Checklist for the eMR to be used in all government hospitals in Abu Dhabi. We used the Antineoplastic Drug Checklist from eviQ Education, adjusting it to fit our needs and now the nurses are documenting electronically all pre-treatment assessments with CTCAE grades and alerts imbedded into the tool, which until 2016 was all on paper.

eviQ Education has a wealth of resources that I have used to develop adult and paediatric courses for professional development, new oncology nurses and nurses from other disciplines. It was not difficult to demonstrate the value of the eviQ Education resources when there was a scoping exercise to determine educational resources for SEHA. They are accessible, evidence based, relevant, user friendly and free. I am already new planning courses, as eviQ Education develops another program I will be looking forward to finding a way to implement this into the curriculum of oncology nursing in the UAE.

I am extremely proud of eviQ Education as a product from Australia, there is nothing that I know of that can compete with it and feel very privileged to be using eviQ Education in the United Arab Emirates.

IMG-8542-1.png