Cancer care in undergraduate nursing education, a mapping review

The incidence of cancer is rising globally. For high-quality cancer care, generalist nurses need core skills and knowledge to care for people with cancer. The training of such should begin during the undergraduate nursing educational programme as it is likely that all nurses will care for people living with cancer. This review aimed to examine the extent of cancer care education in undergraduate nursing education.

This review is considered a mapping review as it provides a broad overview of cancer care education in undergraduate nursing programmes. Several databases and the websites of cancer organisations were searched to identify relevant sources.

From the database searches, 4493 sources were obtained. Three independent reviewers completed the title and abstract and subsequently the full-text screening of the sources. Finally, 132 studies were included in the review. Findings from the 132 included papers were grouped into relevant categories to help address the review's research questions. The most common cancer taught to the undergraduate population was breast cancer, and a wide range of teaching strategies were used.

This mapping review identified a high number of included papers, which demonstrates the efforts of nurse educators internationally to prepare the undergraduate student cohort for cancer care practice. Similarly, it endorses the importance of nurses publishing their educational projects to help guide educational practices on the topic.