The International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care (ISNCC) and Hue Central Hospital have jointly rolled out the highly anticipated 2nd cohort of the Foundation Course in Oncology Nursing in Vietnam, running from June 25 to July 9, 2026. Tailored for nurses without prior professional oncology training, this flagship program is designed to build standardized core competencies, elevate clinical service quality, and ensure safe, holistic care for cancer patients and their families across the country.
Marking a remarkable scale-up of professional oncology nursing education, the second cohort saw 255 participating nurses from 15 Vietnamese provinces and cities — a substantial growth compared to 70 nurses enrolled in the program’s first cohort. The high-caliber training was further empowered by 30 distinguished local and international guest speakers, bringing together global expertise and local clinical experience to deliver authoritative, practice-oriented education.
Co-developed by ISNCC and Hue Central Hospital oncology nursing and medical specialists, the course adopts a hybrid teaching model combining live interactive sessions and pre-recorded professional lectures. Its comprehensive curriculum covers the full cancer care continuum, including cancer prevention and early screening, disease diagnosis and staging, core treatment principles, and targeted nursing interventions for various cancer types. Key practical modules also span patient and occupational safety standards, cancer symptom management, oncology emergency response, specialized treatment device operation, nutritional care, patient communication and bad news delivery, cancer rehabilitation, survivorship care, palliative care, medical ethics, and oncology nursing research. Throughout the training, the critical role of specialized oncology nurses and the value of multidisciplinary medical collaboration were strongly emphasized to shape standardized, team-based clinical practices.
The two consecutive cohorts of training have delivered transformative impacts on frontline Vietnamese oncology nurses, significantly upgrading their professional knowledge and clinical confidence. A palliative care nurse noted the training equipped them with actionable professional skills and a deeper humanistic understanding of cancer care, enabling more compassionate, patient-centered holistic services for advanced cancer patients. Another nurse transitioning from intensive care to oncology departments reported greatly improved capabilities in patient assessment, early risk warning identification, emergency disposal, patient health education, and cross-team multidisciplinary communication.
Beyond individual professional growth, the program has driven widespread clinical practice improvement and knowledge sharing across medical institutions. Leading nursing colleagues have actively translated course learnings into daily work, collaborating with teams to develop localized patient education materials and cascade standardized oncology nursing knowledge to institutional colleagues. As a former head nurse of Hue Central Hospital’s Oncology Center emphasized, professional knowledge gains true value only through internal sharing, practical implementation, and tangible improvements to patient and family care outcomes.
All participating Vietnamese nursing professionals expressed sincere gratitude to ISNCC and Hue Central Hospital for the rigorous curriculum development, high-quality teaching resources, recorded lecture materials, and in-depth clinical experience sharing. This cross-regional, international collaborative program has built a standardized professional learning platform and facilitated high-level academic exchanges among nurses from diverse hospitals and provinces in Vietnam.
Looking ahead, local nursing practitioners hope to sustain this valuable partnership, secure continuous advanced oncology nursing education opportunities, and further popularize standardized oncology care practices nationwide — ultimately elevating the overall standard of Vietnam’s oncology nursing industry and delivering better care outcomes for cancer patients and their families.
Facebook page of the Hue Central Hospital.
