Department of Nursing

Asuko Sekimoto, Ayako Mori, Hiroko Nakahama, Maki Kimura, Mihoko Asanabe, Yuri Nakamura, Miki Hosoya, Chiemi Kojima, Naoko Okada, Yumiko Arai, Tomomi Mochizuki, Akemi Komiyama, Kyomi Maruyama, Mieko Machida, Michiko Oki, Kumi Yoshimura, Miki Izumi, Akemi Yamada, Yuka Morohashi, Nozomi Asai, Miyuki Kanemitsu, Kyoko Suzuki, Aya Oya, Kazumi Ishii, Hiroko Sasaguchi, Atsuko Ito, Emi Fujii, Yuko Hirose, Naoko Haji, Chiaki Ito

Introduction

The Department of Nursing bears responsibility for team healthcare at the National Cancer Center Hospital (NCCH), the core institution for national cancer treatment and control in Japan. With our motto, “All Activities for Cancer Patients”, the responsibility of our department is to develop and improve the quality of cancer nursing as well as to contribute to the appropriate management of the hospital. Our department is also expected to foster nursing staff to achieve the best cancer nursing possible.

The Team and What We Do

We aimed for both COVID-19 prevention and cancer treatment in April 2021, fulfilling our role as part of a team through proper staffing and creating/updating business procedures for the infection control to be done safely.

On the other hand, we did not let up on cancer treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, and worked to improve the medical treatment and recuperation environment and provide education so that cancer patients could receive treatment safely and securely.

We effectively deployed nurse specialists/certified nurses to support cancer patients’ decision making in choosing their treatment and care environment.

To meet the diverse needs of cancer patients, we collaborate with multiple professions to establish a support system for admission to and discharge from the hospital, support for convalescent life, and community medical care coordination.

Research activities

We presented 32 nursing studies at several annual conferences in 2021, and a number of practical reports on the work of nurses, particularly cancer nursing, such as ACP and relationships with the AYA generation. In addition, we published 14 journal articles and books that reflect our nursing practice.

Human resource development and Education

In FY2021, one nurse was designated as a certified nurse of palliative care, cancer chemotherapy nursing and one nurse as a certified nurse administrator.

Our hospital has 17 certified nurse specialists in 4 fields and 44 certified nurses in 10 fields who have become educators as practitioners. (Table 1)

We provided career support for one student to enter a master’s program in nursing and to take an educational course to become a certified nursing administrator. (Table 2)

Table 1. Number of registered certified nurse specialists and certified nurses

Table 2. Support status of human resources development

Future Prospects

We need to provide high-quality cancer nursing and human resources with the aim of promoting team medical cooperation, regional collaboration, and human resource development in our role as a leading cancer hospital.

We aim to respond to various needs of cancer patients and their families, build a support system with interdisciplinary teams and nurses, analyze activity results, and promote prospective studies to build evidence for cancer nursing.

We would like to take a positive view of the impact of COVID-19 and create an organization that can flexibly respond to and solve problems.

List of papers published

Journal

1. Shimizu Y, Tsuji K, Ochi E, Okubo R, Kuchiba A, Shimazu T, Tatematsu N, Sakurai N, Iwata H, Matsuoka YJ. Oncology care providers' awareness and practice related to physical activity promotion for breast cancer survivors and barriers and facilitators to such promotion: a nationwide cross-sectional web-based survey. Supportive care in cancer: official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 30:3105-3118, 2022

2. Ochi E, Tsuji K, Narisawa T, Shimizu Y, Kuchiba A, Suto A, Jimbo K, Takayama S, Ueno T, Sakurai N, Matsuoka Y. Cardiorespiratory fitness in breast cancer survivors: a randomised controlled trial of home-based smartphone supported high intensity interval training. BMJ supportive & palliative care, 12:33-37, 2022

3. Hayashi E, Aoyama M, Fukano F, Takano J, Shimizu Y, Miyashita M. Effects of Bathing in a Tub on Physical and Psychological Symptoms of End-of-Life Cancer Patients: An Observational, Controlled Study. Journal of hospice and palliative nursing: JHPN: the official journal of the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, 24:30-39, 2022

4. Shimizu Y, Hayashi A, Maeda I, Miura T, Inoue A, Takano M, Aoyama M, Matsuoka YJ, Morita T, Kizawa Y, Tsuneto S, Shima Y, Masukawa K, Miyashita M. Changes in depressive symptoms among family caregivers of patients with cancer after bereavement and their association with resilience: A prospective cohort study. Psycho-oncology, 31:86-97, 2022

5. Ueno T, Ichikawa D, Shimizu Y, Narisawa T, Tsuji K, Ochi E, Sakurai N, Iwata H, Matsuoka YJ. Comorbid insomnia among breast cancer survivors and its prediction using machine learning: a nationwide study in Japan. Japanese journal of clinical oncology, 52:39-46, 2022

6. Hiratsuka R, Aoyama M, Masukawa K, Shimizu Y, Hamano J, Sakaguchi Y, Watanabe M, Morita T, Kizawa Y, Tsuneto S, Shima Y, Miyashita M. The Association of Family Functioning With Possible Major Depressive Disorders and Complicated Grief Among Bereaved Family Members of Patients With Cancer: Results From the J-HOPE4 Study, a Nationwide Cross-Sectional Follow-Up Survey in Japan. Journal of pain and symptom management, 62:1154-1164, 2021