Review Process

All de Souza Designation applications are reviewed by the de Souza Institute Designation Review Committee, and assessed using a comprehensive scoring system.

The scoring criteria include:

• Whether the applicant meets all requirements for the specific designation that he/she applied for

• The achievement in nursing practice and in oncology/palliative care as shown in the resume

• The employer letter of support indicating the exceptional clinical caliber of the practitioner in oncology or hospice palliative care

• Additional criteria for de Souza Nurse and de Souza APN:

• • A learning plan that is comprehensive and clearly outlined the deliverables and targets for the 75 hours of clinical fellowship (de Souza Nurse); 

  • A learning plan that is comprehensive and clearly outlined the deliverables and targets for the 150 hours of clinical fellowship AND a research / evaluation project addressing a practice need (de Souza APN); 

  • A final report following the clinical fellowship (de Souza Nurse) and research (de Souza APN) demonstrating outcomes consistent with the learning plan, and scholarly work as a result of the fellowship.

In the interest of transparency and to help to detect potential bias, reviewers of the applications are required to review the de Souza Institute’s conflict of interest policy and declare conflict of interest in relation to any of the reviewed applicants.