Methodology
In March 2017, a workshop at the 12th Annual SIOP
Africa Congress in Marrakech, Morocco, convened 50 nurses from
Francophone and Anglophone Africa (see Figure 1) to identify the
strengths and weaknesses of the pediatric oncology nursing workforce in
their settings, guided by a projected slide with a table of
Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats (SWOT) in English and French
for analysis 9. Time constraints precluded completion
of the exercise, so opportunities and threats were not documented. Two
bilingual moderators led the discussion as the nurses’ oral answers were
documented on a flip board for the audience to consider. Suggestions
supported by >80% of participants were documented.
In 2018, SIOP conducted a mapping exercise by an online survey to
identify global childhood cancer services, beginning in Africa10\sout. The only nurse-specific data was the number
of nurses working 75% of their time in pediatric oncology units.
However, to demonstrate the burden of care for these nurses, data on
allied health professional support available, including
psychologist/psychiatrist, dietician/nutritionist, physiotherapist,
social workers, pharmacist, and palliative care teams were also
extracted from survey responses. Additionally, data regarding
spiritual/religious, volunteer and patient/family support groups were
extracted, and the presence of dedicated pediatric oncology units and
access to pediatric intensive care units.
In March 2019, at the 13th SIOP Africa Congress in
Cairo, Egypt, 30 nurses from Egypt, Tanzania, Morocco, Uganda and
Cameroon participated in a two-day workshop to identify research
priorities for pediatric oncology nurses in Africa. Participants formed
small groups and submitted research questions to share with the larger
group. Submissions were collected, collated and duplicates
removed. Responses were thematically coded using ATLAS. ti version 8.
Themes were grouped first by research priorities and second by the
target population.
During the same meeting in Cairo, the nurse attendees initiated a
project to identify the educational priorities of sub-Saharan nurses
caring for children/adolescents with cancer. Following the Congress, an
online Delphi Survey in English and French using REDCap was distributed
to a convenience sample of nurses from sub-Saharan Africa with
experience of at least one year caring for children with cancer11. The sample was recruited with a snowball
methodology using existing networks of childhood cancer nurses in both
Anglophone and Francophone Africa, as well as an extensive WhatsApp
group of 172 members. In the first round, participants were asked to
identify a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 20 topic areas for inclusion
in a ’foundation’ level programme for pediatric oncology nurses. In the
second round, participants were asked to rate the importance of each
topic identified on a five-point Likert scale with the aim of 80%
consensus on the topics to be addressed. In round three, participants
were presented with a proposed outline framework of a nursing curriculum
and asked to express agreement with the wording and grouping of topics
into modules to develop an outline curriculum framework.
In 2022, at the 14th SIOP Africa Congress in Kampala,
Uganda, approximately 50 nurses gathered once again from Francophone and
Anglophone countries. The nurses were asked to write one sentence in
English about their priority for pediatric oncology nursing in Africa
using an anonymous google form. Comments were collected on a google
form, and inductive thematic analysis was conducted using ATLAS.ti 9.