To celebrate international nurses day we spoke to Ingela, Adult Neuro-Oncology Nurse, to hear about their journey to CUH.
Tell us a bit about your CUH journey – your background, when did you join, what positions have you held here?
I initially came from Sweden in 1997 fresh from nursing school. I joined NCCU just after the annex was built and joined as a staff nurse straight on arrival from Sweden. It was a steep learning curve! I have lived abroad all of my life (mainly in Bahrain and Dubai, followed by Sweden) so language was not a barrier as I’d attended American and British schools throughout.
Whilst on NCCU I progressed to F-grade (now band 6 charge nurse) before leaving and joining the transplant services as a band 7. I worked there as both a donor coordinator (SNOD) for the East Anglian region and subsequently as a recipient transplant coordinator for livers, before returning to neurosurgery.
I have held my post as lead neuro-oncology nurse since 2009 and have recently been appointed as nurse consultant within the same speciality. I have always worked at CUH but in various divisions, roles and departments. It truly is my home from home!
I manage a team of specialist nurses and they are amazing in what they achieve and do daily – they are a real inspiration.
How does your role benefit patients?
Both directly and indirectly. In neurosurgery we have a relatively quick turn around of patients given we subsequently hand them over to oncology services here at CUH, Ipswich or Norwich depending on their surgical diagnosis. Our services deals mainly with malignant, high grade brain tumours. I run nurse led clinics and regularly break bad news to patients / relatives in clinic which can be difficult as malignant brain tumours have a very limited prognosis.
But as a lead nurse, and now nurse consultant I am very privileged to also work Nationally with UK wide benchmarking services and institutes like NICE and charities like Macmillan and brain tumour specific charities to help improve services, streamline care and ensure equitable access to services for malignant brain tumours. I also work very closely with my counterparts in Ipswich and Norwich to ensure a seamless transition and continuity of care.
What are you most proud of?
My team! I manage a team of specialist nurses and they are amazing in what they achieve and do daily – they are a real inspiration. But also my colleagues specific to neuro-oncology – consultants and all; we are a very cohesive team who look out for each other. We are one of the most active research units in the UK and have recently been designated as the ONLY neuro-oncology centre in the UK to gain status as a Brain Cancer Virtual Institute through CRUK. I could not be prouder to work for CUH and neuro-oncology specifically, and to highlight our amazing work (and place of work!) both nationally and internationally.