Never too old to learn new tricks: Surveying Canadian healthcare professionals about learning needs in caring for older adults with cancer

The number of older adults with cancer is growing but little is known about healthcare professionals' (HCPs) perceptions of their readiness to care for older adults with cancer. The Canadian Network on Aging and Cancer together with the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology, Oncology and Aging Special Interest Group, conducted a survey to assess geriatric oncology learning needs of Canadian HCPs and explore any differences in needs between nurses and physicians.An online survey was distributed to Canadian HCP, which assessed respondent confidence and desire to learn about domains related to geriatric oncology, current clinical practice and sociodemographic information. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used to characterize participant characteristics, learning needs and compare learning needs of physicians vs. nurses.Respondents (n = 154) were mostly physicians (n = 78, 51%) or nurses (n = 56, 36%). Respondents reported not being confident addressing mental health issues (75%), polypharmacy (71%), geriatric oncology care models (69%), and return to baseline function post-treatment (67%). Physicians reported more confidence than nurses in managing comorbidities (72% vs. 49%, p 0.05), having difficult conversations (90% vs. 68%, p 0.001), and addressing ageism (76% vs. 58%, p 0.05), while nurses reported more confidence with managing mobility limitations (64% vs 42%, p 0.05), fall prevention (72% vs. 26%, p 0.01) and supporting caregivers (74% vs 52%, p 0.05). Nurses wanted to learn more about geriatric oncology than physicians for 10 domains (p 0.05).There is a need for interprofessional educational initiatives that address differences between nurses and physicians in clinical areas of confidence and learning needs.