In April 2024, Rush Cancer Center formed a partnership with MD Anderson Cancer Center, offering oncology nurses the opportunity to collaborate with the nation’s top-ranked cancer center. Over the past year, the focus has been on aligning nursing practices and structures to support this collaborative effort and elevate cancer care across the Rush system.
Standardizing Annual Nursing Competencies
For the first time, Rush implemented service-line-specific annual nursing competencies across the oncology specialties. This initiative helped to align best practices between Rush and MD Anderson. The educational and competency sessions included oncology nurses from both inpatient and outpatient settings across the Chicago campus and regional sites in Aurora (Copley), Lisle and Oak Park.
Led by clinical nurse specialists, clinical nurse leaders and frontline nurses, approximately 60 four-hour sessions were conducted across the enterprise beginning in June 2024 and scheduled to conclude in August 2025. A comprehensive needs assessment guided the selection of competency topics, and outcome targets were established to measure impact and inform future improvements. By the end of the initiative, approximately 350 nurses are expected to complete the training.
Hardwiring the Professional Governance Structure
To further support the partnership and enhance nursing practice, a team of frontline nurses, advanced practice nurses and leaders have strengthened the professional governance structure within the cancer service line. This structure is essential as the cancer center continues to grow and diversify in areas of specialization.
Over the past six months, new committees were established, including a steering committee and a policy review committee. These initiatives empower nurses to lead changes in practice, workflow and policy. This shared-governance model ensures representation from all oncology nursing specialties, and it supports both Magnet and Rush’s mission to engage frontline nurses in leadership and decision-making.
Collaborative Leadership and Best Practice Sharing
MD Anderson leads collaborative meetings for nurse leaders across partner sites, focused on key areas such as nurse navigation, infusion, education and operations. These meetings are valuable for sharing best practices and ensuring continued alignment of care standards across institutions. Participation from other MD Anderson partner sites across the country enriches our collective knowledge, elevates clinical practices and supports consistency in cancer care delivery.
