[Nursing science in oncologic nursing]

The nursing care of cancer patients has increased in complexity over the past 20 years. Cancer nurses are offering highly specialized care that is frequently delivered in teamwork in hospitals as well as in the community. Cancer nursing uses the development of nursing science and research. Nurses could not be accountable for their practice if this expert knowledge was not made accessible to them. This article focuses on nursing science as a new development in clinical nursing practice in Germany, it identifies why cancer nursing is so demanding on part of the patients, their families (significant others) and professional nurses. Research studies are discussed to demonstrate how scientific knowledge can support the nursing expert in the development of cancer nursing care, a well developed domain of nursing science.