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CAPSTONE

Preparing for Caring

Nursing Fellow researches how pediatric oncology nurses are trained in palliative and end-of-life care

By Yasmine Iqbal

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1. The Inspiration

When PJ Scarperi ’24 FCN was a teenager, he visited the bedside of a friend who was terminally ill with osteosarcoma. Although he wanted to offer comfort, he found himself speechless. Years later, as the recipient of a Susan D. Flynn Oncology Nursing Fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia during the summer of 2023, he knew he would have to face his own trepidation about caring for patients with end-stage diseases.

“I thought that I would flash back to the experience with my friend, and it might be a barrier,” he says. To honor his friend and work through the challenge of facing that memory, he decided to investigate how nurses are trained to provide end-of-life care.

2. The Research

Scarperi sought out the expertise of Meredith MacKenzie Greenle, PhD‬, RN, ANP-BC, CNE, associate professor in the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, whose research focuses on improving the end-of-life experience. They designed a mixed-methods study that combined quantitative and qualitative tools and data analysis.

Scarperi surveyed 38 pediatric oncology student nurses, novice nurses and experienced nurses from hospitals throughout the northeastern US. He also conducted in-depth interviews with 10 of the survey participants to explore their training and comfort level with caring for terminally ill pediatric patients.

3. The Response

Although every respondent, including student nurses, had provided end-of-life care for a patient, only two reported receiving training for it.

“I wasn’t surprised, but I did find this pretty alarming,” Scarperi says. As a co-founder of the Men in Nursing Society, a student group at ����ר��, he knew how important it was for nurses to offer each other community and support.

“Every nurse who goes into pediatric oncology will be called upon to provide end-of-life care, so formal training, which may include lectures, discussion groups or simulations, would be extremely helpful,” he says.

Dr. Greenle agrees. “The challenge is not so much how to provide the clinical care, but how to handle difficult conversations and navigate the dynamics with children and their parents,” she says.

Scarperi presented his research project, “Caring Beyond Cure: Perspectives of Pediatric Oncology Nurses on Palliative and End of Life Care,” at the third annual BIG EAST Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium in March 2024. He was the first ����ר�� Nursing student to present at this competition, which was held at Madison Square Garden in conjunction with the BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Conference Championship. He also won second place in the Individual School-Selected Student Poster category at the Eastern Nursing Research Society’s 36th annual Scientific Sessions conference in April 2024.

In July, Scarperi started his new position as a pediatric oncology nurse at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he is carrying forward the Augustinian tradition to care for the community and embody the value of Caritas, or love. “The Flynn Fellowship and my training at ����ר�� gave me a great foundation for my nursing career,” he says. “Every day, the opportunity to work in this field and care for these children makes me a more positive and grateful person.”