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Rx for Success: How to Raise the Bar for Nursing’s Next Generation
1 key person Regina S. Cunningham, PhD, RN, AOCN, Chief Nursing Officer at CINJ and assistant professor in the research division of the RWJMS Department of Family Medicine, responsible for planning, directing, coordinating, and improving the delivery of all nursing services.
3 years Length of fellowship awarded to Cunningham, one of only 20 Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows, “to redesign health care delivery strategies now and into the future.” Her mission is to strategically position the voice of nursing across many sectors at a time when the system is undergoing unprecedented challenges and a nursing shortage.
13 years Period of time the Nursing Education and Research Committee (NERC), chaired by Cunningham, has run educational programs throughout the state. Thousands of nurses have participated.
78 Number of nurses who work at CINJ, a Center of Excellence at RWJMS.
12 years Age of CINJ, the first and only NIH- designated comprehensive cancer center in the state, committed to treating every patient with compassion—a feat made possible in large part because of its oncology nursing staff, the backbone of CINJ’s care delivery system.
75,000 Patient visits Number served annually at CINJ.

$1.8 million Total of 2 federal grants to support 2 programs at UMDNJ’s School of Nursing: the Accelerated Second-degree BSN/MSN and the Doctor of Nursing Practice.

To survive a serious bout with cancer—physically, mentally, and emotionally—patients need highly-skilled oncology nurses who can provide comprehensive assessment, outline expectations, and offer decision-making support, not only during the active phase of treatment, but long afterward. Regina S. Cunningham, PhD, RN, AOCN, is the Chief Nursing Officer at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Her specialty is oncology, but her advanced degrees and role on the healthcare team at CINJ give us a preview of the role nursing will play in the future of cancer care.

The primary focus of Regina Cunningham’s career has been the organization and delivery of cancer nursing services. “Nurses play a pivotal role in designing healthcare delivery strategies and improving cancer care at every stage of the treatment and recovery trajectory,” she explains. “Most of the work I have done with nurses and patients has been in the acute or ambulatory care setting. Now I’m looking beyond organizational boundaries to develop models that will enhance the care of cancer survivors as they transition from the more acute and highly-specialized setting to primary care environments.” There are more than 10 million cancer survivors in the US today and as care improves, this number is expected to increase substantially. The current model of care delivery relies heavily on oncology-specific providers and isn’t adequate to meet the specialized needs of this growing population, according to Cunningham. Relatively little is known about the long-term effects of treatment on adult survivors, so her project will help address these knowledge gaps through research in cancer survivorship. This collaborative effort will support CINJ’s mission of advancing research in population science.

“I’m fortunate to have an extremely talented team of oncology nurses at CINJ,” Cunningham notes. Several are working with her to develop the survivors program. These specialized nurses are valued for their ability to provide services that anticipate patient need and depend on effective communication skills and preventive action. Whether it’s on a large or small scale, being proactive—not waiting for symptoms or issues to develop—ought to come naturally to the next generation of nurses, says Cunningham.