Description
Description:
Colorectal cancer remains one of the most prevalent and complex malignancies your patients will face, requiring a highly coordinated, evidence-based nursing response. We are seeing a alarming rise in early-onset CRC in young adults, rapidly evolving genetic risk profiles, and highly sophisticated multi-modal therapies. Whether you are guiding a patient through the nuances of modern stool-based screening, managing the complex toxicities of targeted immunotherapies, your clinical expertise directly impacts their outcomes. Join us for this comprehensive minute webinar designed to sharpen your clinical judgment across the entire continuum of colorectal cancer care. As a nurse, your ability to catch early warning signs, demystify complex diagnostic reports, and manage intricate treatment pathways is lifesaving.You’ll walk away with actionable strategies for proactive symptom management, risk stratification, and survivorship navigation that you can immediately apply to improve patient quality of life.
Whether you work in primary care, endoscopy, med-surg, or oncology, you are the critical link in a patient’s cancer journey. Join us to strengthen your role within the interprofessional team, improve continuity of care, and directly impact patient survival rates.
Objectives:
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Differentiate Current Colorectal Cancer Screening Modalities and Risk Profiles. Evaluate the clinical efficacy, indications, and limitations of primary screening tools—including stool-based tests (FIT, gFOBT, multi-target stool DNA, blood testing for biomarkers) and structural exams (colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy). Emphasize the importance of EARLY detection. Nurses will learn to accurately stratify patient risk based on age, hereditary syndromes (e.g., Lynch syndrome, FAP), lifestyle factors, and personal/family history to optimize screening timelines. Recognize the earlier onset of colorectal cancer in young adults.
2. Correlate the incidence and location of colorectal cancer with the anatomy of the large intestine and the rectum. Discuss the differences between right-sided and left-sided colon cancer; how anal cancer differs.
3. Analyze the Pathophysiology, Staging, and Clinical Manifestations of Colorectal Malignancies. Correlate the adenoma-to-carcinoma time sequence (risk of colorectal cancer varies based on histopathology of the adenoma) and molecular pathways with early and advanced clinical presentations (e.g., microcytic (iron-deficiency) anemia and associated symptoms, altered bowel habits, unexplained weight loss, bowel obstruction). Attendees will synthesize diagnostic data—including pathology reports, tumor markers (CEA), and TNM staging—to anticipate disease progression and potential metastatic sites.
4. Formulate Evidenced-Based Nursing Interventions across Multi-Modal CRC Treatment Pathways. Critically evaluate nursing care priorities for patients undergoing surgical interventions (resection, ostomy creation), systemic therapies (traditional chemotherapy, targeted biologics, immunotherapy), and radiation.
5. Optimize Survivorship Navigation, Palliative Frameworks, and Interprofessional Coordination. Design transitional care plans that incorporate long-term surveillance protocols (surveillance colonoscopies, CEA monitoring) for survivors, while seamlessly integrating early palliative care interventions for patients with advanced or metastatic disease. Nurses will define their role within the interprofessional oncology team to improve care coordination, continuity, and patient outcomes.
Who Should Attend?:
• Acute Care and Surgical Nurses in All Areas
• Staff in Day Surgery, Special Procedures and Endoscopy Suites
• New Oncology Nurses; Palliative Care Nurses; Geriatric Nurses
• Primary Care, Home & Community Health Nurses; Tele-Health Nurses
• Nurse Practitioners, Transition, Outpost & Occupational Health Nurses
• Pharmacists, Dieticians, Medical Social Workers, Allied Oncology Staff
Barb Bancroft, RN, MSN, PNP
Barb Bancroft is a widely acclaimed nursing teacher who has taught courses on Advanced Pathophysiology, Pharmacology, and Physical Assessment to both graduate and undergraduate students. Also certified as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, she has held faculty positions at the University of Virginia, the University of Arkansas, Loyola University of Chicago, and St. Xavier University of Chicago. Barb is known for her extensive knowledge of pathophysiology and as one of the most dynamic nursing speakers in North America today. Delivering her material with equal parts of evidence based practise, practical application, and humour, she has taught numerous seminars on clinical and health maintenance topics to healthcare professionals, including the Association for Practitioners for Infection Control, The Emergency Nurses’ Association, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, and more.
