Nursing workforce issues: strategically positioning nurses to facilitate cancer prevention and control

The number of cancer survivors is increasing, but at a staggering cost. These costs can be reduced or contained by preventing cancer and its recurrence. Nurses play a critical role in cancer prevention, a role that will rapidly expand as the number of oncology specialists decreases. It is crucial, therefore, that nurses increase their involvement in cancer prevention. To prepare nurses for this larger role, educational programs in cancer prevention and detection must be instituted for all nurses, particularly those in rural and medically underserved areas. The Professional Education for Prevention and Early Detection program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has developed two nurse education programs: outreach programs for nurses involved in the community and in-house programs for those in clinical practice. These approaches have proven to be enormously effective in developing the nursing workforce as agents of cancer prevention.