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. 2024 Jun;40(3):151627.
doi: 10.1016/j.soncn.2024.151627. Epub 2024 Mar 31.

Advanced Practice Nursing Titles and Roles in Cancer Care: A Scoping Review

Maura Dowling  1 , Eva Pape  2 , Franziska Geese  3 , Ann Van Hecke  4 , Denise Bryant-Lukosius  5 , M Consuelo Cerón  6 , Paz Fernández-Ortega  7 , Francisca Marquez-Doren  8 , Ashleigh Ward  9 , Cherith Semple  10 , Tracy King  11 , Manela Glarcher  12 , Amanda Drury  13
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Free article

Advanced Practice Nursing Titles and Roles in Cancer Care: A Scoping Review

Maura Dowling et al. Semin Oncol Nurs. 2024 Jun.
Free article

Abstract

Objectives: Advanced practice nursing roles in cancer care are diverse and exist across the cancer care continuum. However, the titles used and the scope of practice differ across countries. This diversity is likely to be misleading to patients and influence nurses' contribution to health care. An understanding of the current state of advanced practice nursing roles in cancer care internationally is needed to inform opportunities for future role development and enhance cancer nursing career pathways.

Methods: This scoping review included a systematic search of four databases: MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Academic Search Complete. Independent screening for papers meeting the review's inclusion criteria was undertaken using online screening software. Data extraction, coding, and mapping were undertaken in NVivo 12.

Results: Of the 13,409 records identified, 108 met the review's inclusion criteria. A variety of roles in cancer care settings were described. The United States and the United Kingdom had the most titles for advanced practice nursing roles. Tumor-specific roles were described and integrated into different phases of the cancer care continuum. Trends in continuing professional development for advanced practice nurses in cancer care included the rise in Fellowship programs in the United States and practice-based education in the United Kingdom.

Conclusions: The differences in advanced practice nursing roles in cancer care allow regional and institutional variation to meet the needs of patient populations and health care system demands. However, a lack of clarity surrounding titles and roles results in confusion and underutilization of these nurses' highly specialized skill sets.

Implications for nursing practice: Incongruence in titles and scope of practice internationally will ultimately result in a merging of roles. There is a need for international agreement on education requirements for advanced practice nursing roles to promote career pathways.

Keywords: Advanced practice nursing; Cancer; Nurse practitioner; Scoping Review; Workforce; clinical nurse specialist.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Advanced practice nursing in cancer care is a research priority of the European Oncology Nursing Society (EONS). Five authors are members of the EONS research working group (Maura Dowling, Eva Pape, Paz Fernández-Ortega, Cherith Semple, Amanda Drury). Maura Dowling, Eva Paper, and Denise Bryant-Lukosius were Guest Editors for the “Advanced Oncology Nursing Roles” Special issue of Seminars in Oncology Nursing. As authors of this article, they did not participate in any editorial process or decision-making, which was handled by another editor.

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