Building Specialized Nursing Practice Capacity in Bangladesh: An Educational Program to Prepare Nurses to Care for Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant Patients in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract

In 2012, the Minister of Health and other leaders in the Bangladesh government approached Massachusetts General Hospital to establish the country’s first bone marrow transplant program at Dhaka Medical College Hospital to serve the needs of the people of Bangladesh. Stated goals of this collaboration included a broad focus on the care of oncology patients with a specific emphasis on care of patients with hematologic malignancies and of women with gynecologic cancers. The purpose of this article is to describe the international nursing collaboration between Massachusetts General Hospital, Simmons College, the AK Khan Healthcare Trust in Dhaka, and Dhaka Medical College Hospital that was established to share nursing knowledge and to build specialized professional nursing capacities to deliver high-quality cancer care in the public sector. Over the past 3 years, through the educational programs that have been developed within this collaboration—the Enhanced Specialized Nurse Training Program—the Bangladeshi nurses have received continuing professional development based on Western standards of nursing and have been offering nursing care to patients who have undergone chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation. The challenges, opportunities, and outcomes of this international collaboration have been highly rewarding and mutually beneficial.