Developing an organizing framework to guide nursing research in the Children’s Oncology Group (COG)

Objectives—To describe the development and application of an organizing research framework to guide COG Nursing research. Data Sources—Research articles, reports and meeting minutes Conclusion—An organizing research framework helps to outline research focus and articulate the scientific knowledge being produced by nurses in the pediatric cooperative group. Implication for Nursing Practice—The use of an organizing framework for COG nursing research can facilitate clinical nurses’ understanding of how children and families sustain or regain optimal health when faced with a pediatric cancer diagnosis through interventions designed to promote individual and family resilience. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. NIH Public Access Author Manuscript Semin Oncol Nurs. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2015 February 01. Published in final edited form as: Semin Oncol Nurs. 2014 February ; 30(1): 17–25. doi:10.1016/j.soncn.2013.12.004. N IH -P A A uhor M anscript N IH -P A A uhor M anscript N IH -P A A uhor M anscript The Children’s Oncology Group (COG) is the sole National Cancer Institute (NCI)-supported cooperative pediatric oncology clinical trials group and the largest organization in the world devoted exclusively to pediatric cancer research. It was founded in 2000 following the merger of the four legacy NCI-supported pediatric clinical trials groups (Children’s Cancer Group [CCG], Pediatric Oncology Group [POG], National Wilms Tumor Study Group, and Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study Group). The COG currently has over 200 member institutions across North America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe and a multidisciplinary membership of over 8,000 pediatric, radiation, and surgical oncologists, nurses, clinical research associates, pharmacists, behavioral scientists, pathologists, laboratory scientists, patient/parent advocates and other pediatric cancer specialists. The COG Nursing Discipline was formed from the merger of the legacy CCG and POG Nursing Committees, and current membership exceeds 2000 registered nurses. The discipline has a well-developed infrastructure that promotes nursing involvement throughout all levels of the organization, including representation on disease, protocol, scientific, executive and other administrative committees (e.g., nominating committee, data safety monitoring boards). COG nurses facilitate delivery of protocol-based treatments for children enrolled on COG protocols, and Nursing Discipline initiatives support nursing research, professional and patient/family education, evidence-based practice, and a patient-reported outcomes resource center. The research agenda of the Nursing Discipline is enacted through a well-established nursing scholar program.