Center of Nursing Excellence

The Center of Nursing Excellence (CNE) in Kazakhstan is developed within the ProInCa project. The CNE focuses on the transfer of research outcomes into nursing practice and the research ideas to the universities for research and educational purposes. It includes mechanisms for collaboration and knowledge sharing within the Centre of Nursing Excellence between the academic national and international nursing community (universities and other educational institutions) and society. These mechanisms involve the creation of an e-platform and formalized national and international networks and working groups

The Development of an e-platform to Strengthen Nursing in Kazakhstan::a Systematic Review and a Delphi Study to Define Requirements

Background: To strengthen nursing in Kazakhstan, an e-platform has been developed to support knowledge sharing and collaboration in nursing education, nursing research, and clinical practice. Objective: This study aims to identify and prioritize requirements for an e-platform to strengthen nursing in the trinity of nursing education, nursing research, and clinical practice. Methods: The research was conducted using an exploratory sequential mixed-method design, including a systematic review and a Delphi study. The systematic review utilized search terms concerning nursing, e-platform, research, and education. The Delphi study included two rounds of questionnaires among a panel of Kazakh and European experts. Outcomes were analyzed using content validity ratios and level of consensus thresholds. Results: The systematic review generated eight studies and identified nine categories of requirements to be covered by four groups in the Delphi study. These four groups were content-related, functional, usability, and technical requirements. The study generated 52 essential and 15 useful requirements, which are common in the literature and in experts’ opinions. Conclusion: The list of requirements is well embedded in the literature as well as in the national context of nursing in Kazakhstan. Therefore, the e-platform developed according to these requirements will contribute to improving the trinity of nursing education, research, and practice. Although the list is context-specific, when validated by a panel of experts, it is universally applicable when developing e-platforms for nursing

Strategies for involving family members in treatment decision making for older patients with cancer

Background and purpose: Many older patients with cancer have their family members, often their adult children, involved in a process of treatment decision making. Despite the growing awareness that family members can facilitate a process of shared decision making (SDM), literature about SDM pays little attention to family relations and strategies to facilitate family involvement in decision making processes. Therefor this study aimed to 1. explore surgeons' and nurses' perceptions about involvement of adult children in treatment decision-making for older patients; and 2. identify strategies surgeons' and nurses use to ensure positive family involvement. Methods: This study used a qualitative open in-depth interview design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 surgical oncologists and 13 oncology nurses in two hospitals in the Netherlands. Qualitative content analysis was conducted according to the steps of thematic analysis. Results: Surgeons and nurses indicated that adult children's involvement in decision-making increases when patients become frail. They reported beneficial and challenging characteristics of this involvement. Subsequently, six strategies to stimulate positive involvement of adult children in the decision-making process were revealed: 1. Focus on the patient; 2. Actively involve adult children; 3. Acknowledge different perspectives; 4. Get to know the family system; 5. Check that the patient and family members understand the information; and 6. Stimulate communication and deliberation with adult children.Conclusions and implications: Surgeons and nurses perceive involvement of adult children in treatment decision making for older patients with cancer as beneficial. Adult children can help these patients reach well-informed treatment decisions. Therefor surgeons and nurses stimulate the communication and deliberation between these patients and their adult children. However, involving family in treatment decision making also triggers specific complexities and challenges in treatment decision conversations that seem to call for the development and implementation of practical patient and family-centered strategies

Strategies for involving family members in treatment decision making for older patients with cancer

Background and purpose: Many older patients with cancer have their family members, often their adult children, involved in a process of treatment decision making. Despite the growing awareness that family members can facilitate a process of shared decision making (SDM), literature about SDM pays little attention to family relations and strategies to facilitate family involvement in decision making processes. Therefor this study aimed to 1. explore surgeons' and nurses' perceptions about involvement of adult children in treatment decision-making for older patients; and 2. identify strategies surgeons' and nurses use to ensure positive family involvement. Methods: This study used a qualitative open in-depth interview design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 surgical oncologists and 13 oncology nurses in two hospitals in the Netherlands. Qualitative content analysis was conducted according to the steps of thematic analysis. Results: Surgeons and nurses indicated that adult children's involvement in decision-making increases when patients become frail. They reported beneficial and challenging characteristics of this involvement. Subsequently, six strategies to stimulate positive involvement of adult children in the decision-making process were revealed: 1. Focus on the patient; 2. Actively involve adult children; 3. Acknowledge different perspectives; 4. Get to know the family system; 5. Check that the patient and family members understand the information; and 6. Stimulate communication and deliberation with adult children.Conclusions and implications: Surgeons and nurses perceive involvement of adult children in treatment decision making for older patients with cancer as beneficial. Adult children can help these patients reach well-informed treatment decisions. Therefor surgeons and nurses stimulate the communication and deliberation between these patients and their adult children. However, involving family in treatment decision making also triggers specific complexities and challenges in treatment decision conversations that seem to call for the development and implementation of practical patient and family-centered strategies

Genomic profiling using array comparative genomic hybridization define distinct subtypes of diffuse large b-cell lymphoma: a review of the literature

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common type of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma comprising of greater than 30% of adult non-Hodgkin Lymphomas. DLBCL represents a diverse set of lymphomas, defined as diffuse proliferation of large B lymphoid cells. Numerous cytogenetic studies including karyotypes and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), as well as morphological, biological, clinical, microarray and sequencing technologies have attempted to categorize DLBCL into morphological variants, molecular and immunophenotypic subgroups, as well as distinct disease entities. Despite such efforts, most lymphoma remains undistinguishable and falls into DLBCL, not otherwise specified (DLBCL-NOS). The advent of microarray-based studies (chromosome, RNA, gene expression, etc) has provided a plethora of high-resolution data that could potentially facilitate the finer classification of DLBCL. This review covers the microarray data currently published for DLBCL. We will focus on these types of data; 1) array based CGH; 2) classical CGH; and 3) gene expression profiling studies. The aims of this review were three-fold: (1) to catalog chromosome loci that are present in at least 20% or more of distinct DLBCL subtypes; a detailed list of gains and losses for different subtypes was generated in a table form to illustrate specific chromosome loci affected in selected subtypes; (2) to determine common and distinct copy number alterations among the different subtypes and based on this information, characteristic and similar chromosome loci for the different subtypes were depicted in two separate chromosome ideograms; and, (3) to list re-classified subtypes and those that remained indistinguishable after review of the microarray data. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first effort to compile and review available literatures on microarray analysis data and their practical utility in classifying DLBCL subtypes. Although conventional cytogenetic methods such as Karyotypes and FISH have played a major role in classification schemes of lymphomas, better classification models are clearly needed to further understanding the biology, disease outcome and therapeutic management of DLBCL. In summary, microarray data reviewed here can provide better subtype specific classifications models for DLBCL

23rd Nordic Congress of Gerontology (23 NKG) Tampere

Workshop presentation: ELLAN – European Later Life Active Network - Transnational development of an agreed core European competencies framework for working with older peopl

Center of Nursing Excellence (CNE) Kazakhstan: e-platform for knowledge sharing and collaboration

Presentation of the development process of the e-platform of the Center of Nursing Excellence including: the requirements analysis research and the verified list of requirements and how this was used to design the e-platform. Explanation of the functions to support knowledge sharing and collaboration