Role, education, policies and competencies for advanced practice in paediatric haematology-oncology nursing in Europe: A scoping review.

The aim of this scoping review is to describe the role, education, policies/regulation, skills and competencies required for advanced practice in paediatric haematology-oncology nursing in Europe, highlighting the differences in development between the different European countries. A scoping review was conducted following the methodological framework of guidelines by Arksey and O'Malley and the recommendations for advancing the methodology by Levac et al. We searched MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Scopus, grey literature, webpages, reference lists and performed a manual search, without any restrictions on language or time. The intersection between databases, grey literature and evidence documents traced from the sites of the most authoritative European organisations in the field made it possible to identify the regulatory and training differences between the various countries that were examined. This scoping review highlights how advanced knowledge and competences are used in the care of paediatric haematology-oncology patients, which are strictly necessary for implementing quality care. At present these competences are not recognised in policies and regulation in most of the countries that were examined. It is desirable that all EU member states work to implement a radical change and allow these more competent figures to assist patients in the best possible way.

Pediatric onco-hematological home care during COVID-19 pandemic.

The aim of the work is to describe the protocol adopted by the Home Care Service in pediatric onco-hematological patients of a large cancer institute in Italy during COVID-19 pandemic and to present preliminary data. Based on our experience, we have developed strategies to ensure continuity of care, non-abandonment, and protection of patients and operators in a period of emergency like this. In this context, the "COVID at home" protocol plays a central role. It aims to be able to safely manage COVID-19 positive onco-hematological patients, allowing nursing and medical care in the home setting, identifying patients at risk for COVID-19 infection, and rationalizing improper accesses to the hospital.

The Management of Children with Cancer during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Rapid Review.

Despite the fact that cancer patients seem to be at a higher risk of being infected with SARS-CoV-2, limited data are available in the pediatric oncology setting. A systematic rapid review was conducted to analyze scientific literature regarding the management, interventions, and strategies adopted to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the pediatric cancer population. Our search on PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, and EMBASE databases yielded 505 articles. After removing duplicates, 21 articles were included. Articles focused on infection prevention (n = 19; 90.5%), management (n = 18; 85.7%), overall management of specific treatments for cancer (n = 13; 61.9%), and education (n = 7; 33.3%). The interventions adopted to prevent the spread of COVID-19 were similar across organizations and in line with general recommendations. Most of them reported interventions that could be used as valid strategies for similar emergencies. The strategies included limiting the risk of contagion by restricting access to the wards and implementing hygiene measures, the identification of separate pathways for the management of patients suspected or confirmed to be infected with COVID-19, the postponement of people accessing the hospital for non-urgent or unnecessary tests or medical examinations, and the preventive screening of patients before chemotherapy treatment or transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells. It is necessary to identify key indicators in order to better evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions implemented over time. A summary of the recommendations is provided.