Nursing Portal

Overview

In memory of Selma Rabin, the Prostate Cancer Foundation launched a novel precision research and care nursing program in partnership with the VA.

Read more: Selma’s Slice of Life - A Veterans Health Nursing Leadership Initiative

Prostate cancer is the most-diagnosed cancer in the VA, but in recent years tremendous advances have been made in prostate cancer precision medicine – that is, pairing patients and treatments based on genetic data. Now, PCF has brought together a team of world-class nursing and precision medicine thought leaders to launch the new Data Nurse of the Future Training Program.

Using information about a patient’s genetics (either from his inherited DNA or from his tumor’s genetic “profile”), clinicians are able to better guide treatment. Demand for genetic services at the VA continues to grow, requiring more healthcare workers who are trained to help deliver this life-extending and life-saving care. Through the PCF-VA nursing program, nurses who work in VA urology or oncology clinics will undergo training to provide genetic services for Veterans. Generously funded by Independence Blue Cross of Pennsylvania and the Katz Foundation, the first 3 sites will be at VA medical centers in the Northeast, with the aim of expanding the program to PCF’s Precision Oncology Centers of Excellence across the US.