title: Multidisciplinary care team for cancer patients and its implementation in several Middle Eastern countries.
abstract: This article introduces palliative care to cancer patients in Middle Eastern countries. It considers the importance of the multidisciplinary team in providing an adequate service to the patient and his/her family. It provides views of professionals from the various countries with regard to the role of the nurse in such teams; whereby the three elements of palliative care nursing entail: 1. Working directly with patients and families; 2. Working with other health and social care professionals to network and co-ordinate services; and 3. working at an organizational level to plan, develop and manage service provision in local, regional and national settings. This article also details the challenges that nurses face in the Middle East and outlines the preferable ways to overcome such challenges. The latter include more focused educational activities at the undergraduate and graduate levels and continuous clinical training throughout their work as palliative care nurse specialists.
authors.affiliation: Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, and the Middle East Cancer Consortium, 15 Kiryat Sefer Street, Haifa, Israel. cancer@mecc-research.com
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Silbermann
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pitsillides
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Al-Alfi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Omran
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Al-Jabri
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Elshamy
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ghrayeb
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Livneh
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Daher
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Charalambous
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jafferri
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El-Shamy
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D064946:Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing; D006801:Humans; D008877:Middle East; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D009726:Nurses; D010166:Palliative Care; D010348:Patient Care Team