Patients with chronic diseases are on the rise.

Ludhiana, 10^th September,  Haematology, Oncology and Bone marrow transplantation services are at a turning point in our country with increasing number of patients requiring the need for these services.  With a projected increase in chronic diseases in India and increasing life span, patients with these diseases are on the rise.

The caregiver at the bedside has a very important role in the outcome of cancer patients. On this behalf Christian Medical College, Ludhiana conducted a unique national conference for the nurses and physician assistants working in the field of cancer and bone marrow transplantation. This is the first time in this region such a conference is held on the theme ‘Importance of Nursing care’focusing on ‘Quality, Competency and Research’.This was attended by more than 300  delegates from 10 different states of the country and 25 different institutions.

The meeting was inaugurated by the Chief guest Dr Kim.J.Mammen and Dr Kunal Jain gave the welcome speech.While Mrs Abanti Gopan from Kolkota spoke about quality in nursing care, Ms Swapna Joshi from TMH Mumbai, detailed on how to go about research in nursing care and Dr M Joseph John from CMC Ludhiana mentioned clinician’s view point on nursing care and emphasized that Indian nurses can be as good or better than nurses from abroad by giving adequate training more responsibility.

Ms Jyoti Sahni from PGI, Chandigarh talked about the infection control in specialized units and Ms Joylen Jonahs from Pune explained the details of managing central lines.  Mrs Selva Titus from Vellore expounded on the importance of filtration technology in Haematology-Oncology and transplant units to reduce the incidence of infections.

Ms Anita Desouza from Mumbai gave the details of maintaining a clean environment for BMT and leukemia units and Ms Margaret from Vellore gave the details of stem cell handling. Ms Deepshika Gupta from Ludhiana mentioned about the ways to prevent and manage extravasations.

Post lunch there were panel discussions on training avenues for nurses and physician assistants, attrition among nurses, optimal manpower in a specialized unit and maintaining interpersonal relationships in a unit. This was followed by quiz for the audience and organizing secretary Dr M Joseph John gave the vote of thanks.