[Role of advanced practice nurse within a cellular therapy unit: Guidelines from the Francophone Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation and cellular therapy (SFGM-TC)]

Abstract

Like the "nurse practitioner" in Anglo-Saxon countries, the French health authority validated on January 2016 the creation of an intermediate grade called advanced practice nurse (APN). They are authorized to carry out an assessment of the person's state of health, through a complete clinical examination. They can also prescribe additional examinations necessary for the monitoring of the pathology, and carry out certain acts for diagnostic and/or therapeutic purposes. Given the specificities of cellular therapy patients, the content of university professional training doesn't seem sufficient to assure an optimal management by the APN of these patients. The Francophone society of bone marrow transplantation and cellular therapy (SFGM-TC) had already published two works regarding what was initially called "the transfer of skills" between doctors and nurses in the follow-up of transplant patients. In the same way, this workshop attempts to address the question of the place of APNs in the management of patients undergoing cellular therapy treatment. Beyond a delegation of tasks as proposed by the cooperation protocols, this workshop produces recommendations to allow an autonomous activity of the IPA in the follow-up of these patients, in close collaboration with the medical team.

Keywords: Advanced practice nurse; CAR T-cell therapy; CAR-T cells; Cellular therapy; Greffe hématopoïétique; Hematopoietic cell transplantation; Infirmière; Nurse practitioner; Pratique avancée; Thérapie cellulaire.