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training in oncology, and offer graduate scholarships to
top students. It also will give these students access to its
highly developed system of teaching and learning support,
including an e-mentorship program which provides
a unique opportunity for professional growth. Nurses
beginning their employment in a cancer care setting are
paired with mentors dedicated to supporting their career
development goals.
Professional development is important to prepare
nurses at all levels of education to address continuous
change in the workplace, and to support advanced
practice nurses to work at their full scope of practice while
providing high-quality care.
“We are paving the way in oncology and palliative
care nursing in Canada,” says Mary Jane Esplen, director
of the de Souza Institute. “The collaboration is an
opportunity for graduate-level nurses across the country to
develop specialization to better address the complexities
of cancer care.”
The mentorship program not only benefits graduates as
they take on leadership roles, it helps the health care system
as a whole to retain the skills, knowledge and attitudes
necessary to care for oncology and palliative patients.
Freeman-Gibb says she would have benefitted from a
mentor when she first entered oncology, recalling she felt in
over her head.
“I had years of experience and education and felt I was
well-prepared until the first time the group gathered for
rounds,” she recalls. “They could have been talking Greek
for all the sense I was making of the discussion, with so
many specialized terms.”
She undertook her own orientation in the field,
shadowing physicians, nurses and other health care
professionals to learn from their accumulated knowledge.
“I felt that I knew nothing about oncology, yet I had
responsibility for taking care of people,” she says. “How
I wished back then that there had been courses and a
program like we’ve put together here.”
The de Souza Institute also contributes its research
resources, independent of those held by UWindsor’s Leddy
Library. The Institute will make available to students its
virtual library, an online database containing more than
1,500 e-journals and 280 e-books.
Patrick is also excited about the local collaborations
that will provide opportunities for students and researchers.
“The Windsor community provides a supportive setting
for this initiative. We will be working closely with other
local experts, including Windsor Regional Hospital and the
Hospice of Windsor and Essex County. We hope to create
linkages here that will foster interdisciplinary research
collaborations and expand capacity in this crucial area.”
With its focus on the student experience, building on
the strengths of professionals among nursing faculty and in
partnering institutions, the program will produce graduates
well-prepared to make a difference in their communities,
both locally and across Canada, says Patrick.
“We believe it goes a long way to meeting the
University of Windsor’s commitment to improving the
world we live in.”
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The need for the skills offered by the new program is growing, especially given the escalating number of seniors. (University of Windsor file photo)
