The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) commissioned The Northern Ireland Practice and Education Council for nursing and midwifery (NIPEC) to develop a Northern Ireland (NI) Cancer Nursing Career Pathway.
A clinical career pathway supports aspiring nurses to achieve their individual level of clinical expertise. It aims to enhance and develop roles and responsibilities for registered nurses, nursing assistants and support workers ultimately improving the quality of care and treatment for people living with cancer.
The Pathway recognises the role diversity within nursing and provides clarity around role definition, responsibilities and the competencies required to support and care for people living with cancer.
Key objectives in the NIPEC Cancer Nurse Career Pathway include
- Attracting registered nurses to pursue a career in cancer care and build a robust future specialist workforce;
- Developing a clear and regionally agreed career pathway for nurses aspiring to work at all levels in cancer roles and services;
- Reducing attrition and loss of skilled professionals by offering an exciting and rewarding career structure;
- Facilitating succession planning for specialist and advanced nursing roles;
- Enabling employers to deliver a high-quality service to those affected by cancer, whilst supporting workforce transformation and the well-being of staff.
The NIPEC Clinical Role Descriptors seek to ensure regional consistency for public, professionals, service managers and commissioning.
High level summaries of the roles have been shared below:
- Senior Nursing Assistant– works as an integral part and member of the cancer nursing team to deliver high quality, safe & effective person centred and compassionate care. Promoting individual ability and independence.
- Cancer Support Worker (CSW) are part of the cancer nursing team, working under the guidance of, usually a cancer specific Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS). They undertake non-complex tasks to support the CNS (a Test of Change is currently focusing on the development of this role)
- Staff Nurse Cancer is a Registered Nurse (RN) who provides holistic care and supports individuals who have a suspected or confirmed cancer diagnosis and contributes to the delivery of procedures and treatment.
- Senior Staff Nurse Cancer is a RN, who delivers person centred care for people with haematological and oncological conditions in the inpatient and outpatient setting and assists them to make autonomous decisions about their care.
- Clinical Nurse Specialist Cancer is a RN who has enhanced or specialist knowledge relating to specific cancer types. They are the keyworker and key point of contact throughout the individuals care pathway. They undertake comprehensive clinical and holistic assessment to assist in planning and implementation of personalised care and treatment. They provide direct nurse- led activity including nurse – led clinics, inpatient support and telephone follow up. Their roles include leadership, service improvement, audit, research and education.
- Oncology/Haematology Nurse Practitioner (ONP or HNP) is a RN, who assess, diagnosis and prescribe SACT and supportive therapies within their area of expertise and provide nurse led clinics and telephone follow up. They proactively engage with and refer to other disciplines and voluntary agencies to ensure delivery of person-centred care.
- Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) Cancer is a RN and is highly experienced, expert member of the Cancer Care Team. The ANP will work autonomously within their expanded scope of clinical practice and will work as part of the Cancer Care Team using person-centred approach in line with the Advanced Nursing Practice Framework.
- Consultant Nurse Cancer possesses highly specialised expert knowledge at the forefront of their practice. They exercise a high degree of independent and professional autonomy and demonstrate advanced levels of clinical judgement, knowledge, skill and experience. The role amalgamates a significant proportion of direct higher clinical practice with professional leadership, academic education and research, service development and evaluation activities.
The Final NIPEC Cancer Nurse career Pathway Report is pending publication and can be accessed directly via NIPEC website. For further details please link to Career Pathway for Cancer Nursing NIPEC