Implementing a Palliative Care Nurse Leadership Fellowship Program in Uganda

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Palliative Care
• Global Health

Background:

• Increasing global demand for oncology and palliative care outstrips healthcare capacity, particularly in resource-limited sub-Saharan Africa.
• Uganda faces a dual burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases, with cancer diagnoses often occurring too late for curative intervention due to access, education, and poverty barriers.
• Late-stage cancer diagnosis in Uganda is exacerbated by delays from seeking traditional remedies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe an innovative nurse leadership training model designed to improve palliative care delivery in Uganda.
• To present a scalable model for enhancing palliative care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) facing significant healthcare constraints.

Main Methods:

• Development and implementation of a nurse leadership training program focused on palliative care.
• Focus on empowering nurses to lead and improve care delivery within existing healthcare systems.

Main Results:

• The study describes a novel nurse leadership training model implemented in Uganda.
• The model aims to address the critical need for improved palliative care in a high-burden cancer setting.

Conclusions:

• The developed nurse leadership training model offers a potential solution for enhancing palliative care in Uganda.
• This innovative approach is proposed as a replicable and applicable model for other LMICs with similar healthcare challenges and high palliative care needs.