14-15 December 2018 in Navi Mumbai, India
India is one of the low-and-middle-income-country (LMIC) in rapid evolvement with 75 transplant centers officially reporting their activities to the national registry.
The EBMT Nurses Group (NG) Global Education Committee (GEC) & Nurses No Frontiers together with the ACTREC (Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research & Education in Cancer) Foundation delivered the second training course for HSCT Nurses in India on the 14th and 15th of December 2018. The course was held in Tata Memorial Center, in Navi Mumbai.
The first training course was held in India in 2016. We were asked to support the formation of the Indian BMT Nurses Group Network to establish the educational program for nurses in line with JACIE Standards. The aim of the EBMT NG and GEC is to play a key role in organising educational HSCT Nursing events in LMIC, in collaboration with like-minded entities.
This second program has been a great advance in the objectives of the EBMT NG GEC as this educational program was a collaboration with Professor Meera Achrekar along with nurses from Tata Memorial Center and ACTREC Foundation.
Approximately 200 nurses attended from all parts of the country, filling the auditorium with experience, and a colorful view of beautiful saris. Professor Meera and her team demonstrated a great ability to organise, with audio-visual media and sponsors´ support.
The educational program involved an overview of transplant processes in line with JACIE Standards. The program included local nurses as speakers and chairpersons that encouraged participation of the entire auditorium with questions and comments on various issues. Several clinical cases were presented sharing experiences of the different centres. Nursing practice is evidence-based and spiritual care is a prominent feature within their healthcare system, a trend which is slowly moving back into our centres.
The course was attended by many head nurses and nurse coordinators making possible the first meeting of what will surely be the future Indian BMT Nurses Group. Considering there are 75 transplant centres in India, this was a great challenge. One of the joint objectives of the EBMT Nurses Group and GEC Nurses Committee is to empower nurses by giving support for the development of national groups where a network can be established to share knowledge and achieve common goals.
It has been a pleasure to have been at Tata Memorial Centre, with their warm welcome, sharing experiences and knowledge with one of the most active groups. We are sure that their hard work and commitment will mature into a successful Indian BMT Nurses Group.
