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Press Releases
HCRC to Create Online Learning for Cancer Nurses
Columbia, Mo. (May 21, 2004) - The Health Communication Research Center at the Missouri School of Journalism will work with representatives from the University of Illinois and Purdue University to create two online classes to provide extension training (X-Train) for oncology nurses about functional foods. Functional foods such as soy, broccoli, tomatoes, berries and tea have health benefits beyond the traditional nutrients that they contain.
This is the final phase of the HCRC grant that began in September 2000 looking to assess nurses' knowledge and access to information about functional foods and to develop educational materials for nurses across the country.
“In the previous phase of the grant we did a survey of all the oncology nurses in the U.S.,” said Glen T. Cameron, the HCRC co-director who also serves as a professor and Maxine Wilson Gregory Chair in Journalism Research at the Missouri School of Journalism. “We learned from that survey just how much nurses want and need nutritional information. Their patients often talk nutrition with them. We also found that it was more important to provide training and knowledge to the nurses in the X-Train format as opposed to sending out informational packets. It’s an exciting step and, if it’s as successful as we hope, this type of learning that can be transferred to other health areas.”
The classes will be offered free for the 22,000 oncology nurses in the United States and provide credit toward accreditation for associations such as the Oncology Nurses Society. The nurses will use this knowledge to help cancer patients understand the role nutrition plays in their health and recovery.
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