Welcome Message
Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to the de Souza Institute! In May 2008 the Government of Ontario established a fund of $15 million over five years to develop a knowledge transfer centre for oncology nursing. This work is a partnership with the Nursing Secretariat of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care with The Princess Margaret Hospital, University Health Network and Cancer Care Ontario.
The Institute is named after the late Anna Maria de Souza, the founder and chair of the Brazilian Ball, and who passed away at The Princess Margaret Hospital in September 2007 after a courageous battle with cancer. The intent of the Institute is to create “de Souza nurses” who will deliver high quality, safe, compassionate and evidence-based patient care in Ontario to cancer patients and families, with the ultimate goal being to meet Ontario’s vision to provide the best cancer care in the world.
It is an exciting time for cancer care in Canada, with our national strategy through the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC). It is also an exciting time for nursing as cancer care has become increasingly complex, resulting in greater challenges and opportunities for nurses. With new technology we are better able to screen, diagnose and treat cancers. And, new models of palliative care along with the development of survivor programs require new knowledge with clinical and psychosocial expertise in working with individuals and their families.
Nurses who work in oncology, whether it be in the community, or an acute care setting or anywhere along the cancer journey continuum have what I consider to be profound opportunities, perhaps more so then any other area of nursing. Cancer and cancer risk continue to be experienced as a life-threatening illness, which can often feel like a jarring impact where one, perhaps for the first time, feels life is finite, with a more conscious sense of an uncertain future.
For nursing, this is our opportunity…in all the care that we do…to make a difference- the “de Souza” difference. No task is too small, no statement unfelt and no stance or cue is unnoticed. Individuals and their families touched by cancer are at an important time in their life trajectories, when they may be evaluating lived patterns, looking back, looking ahead…and certainly examining and being impacted by all that their nurses do. Living with continued uncertainty means that individuals and their families look for clues as to what lies ahead, wondering how they will cope? Will they survive? How potent is their risk? And, have vast information needs.
Nurses are in an ideal position to help individuals and their families come through this difficult time, adjust to their diagnoses and treatments and make a significant difference in how a person adapts to a diagnosis and its treatments and in the adjustment of family.
The key is to have the most mindful of practice while providing evidence-based care, integrating the highest standards, critical thinking, and constantly examining and looking for opportunities to improve care and potential patient responses in relation to survival and quality of life outcomes.
How will the de Souza Institute help nurses do this? We, at the de Souza Institute are here to help. We are committed to providing you with opportunities for lifelong learning so that you can keep pace with emerging knowledge and technologies. We will provide you with top of the line mentorship opportunities to help manage the daily stresses and the challenges that so often are part of cancer care and its system. We’ll also help you create career plans and strategies so that you continue to grow. For those of you who are in educational centres, we can help support your studies through our scholarship program, augment your training through our graduate e-learning courses, continuing education courses and clinical fellowships. For some you may hope to return to school- we can help also with that personal goal. And for those of you interested in pursuing the academic life we offer scholarships and guidance in becoming scientists, educators and clinician-scholars/scientists.
We hope that you will visit our website frequently over the course of your career. Watch for our new programs, continuing and graduate course opportunities and for programs aimed at assisting you in how to manage work-life balance and the grief or burnout that often can pose personal challenges.
To all students, nurses and academics/scientists working with individuals with cancer and their families, or those at risk, we are here when you are ready.
To date we have launched a number of programs. To name a few, we offer support for certification in oncology and palliative care, study groups to help prepare for the certification examinations , scholarships for graduate students, e-learning graduate and continuing education courses, Train–the-Trainer workshops and a new graduate telehealth seminar. Telehealth and e-learning tools will allow us to offer our programs widely and at no cost - we have recently provided all of Ontario’s Regional Cancer Centres to expand their information technology in effort that nurses will have access to our programs.
I look forward to working with you in leading our field into new domains and with a new kind of stance in our practice. We are fortunate to have such opportunities in our field, through this important initiative of the Ontario Government and through the generosity and recognition of Anna Maria de Souza on the importance of nursing care.
Warm Regards,
Mary Jane Esplen, PhD, RN
