Kate Nolan, specialist nurse on the lower GI oncology team, tells us about her role at CUH and her hopes for the future.
Video: Kate Nolan talks about the importance of her role as a CNS
Link: https://youtu.be/Rx66qdqPcUg
I joined the team in September 2021 and have been with the team for just over five months, previously to that I had six years’ experience working in oncology in both the inpatient and the outpatient setting at CUH working on both D9 and the oncology day unit.
I really feel like this experience has helped me in my transition to the Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) role, over those years I’ve had the experience of looking after patients with a variety of different cancer diagnosis, including lower GI cancers, and cared for them throughout different stages of the patient pathway and during acute phases of their diagnosis.
Then going through the active treatment stage as well and towards end-of-life care. Working on the oncology day unit has really prepared me in caring for our patients that are going through chemotherapy. This experience has helped me in being able to support our patients, the knowledge that I have from over the last six years has helped me to build a level of trust with my patients, with them being able to trust in the advice and support that I give them throughout their cancer pathway.
That is why we are here, nobody wants to have to go through a cancer experience but we're in a position where we can make it a better experience for our patients and be there to support them the whole way through.
One of my fears when I joined the CNS role from working on the day unit was that I wouldn't be practicing my practical nursing skills as much, and while that is the case, I found the adjustment hasn't been as difficult as I expected it to be, because I can adapt my knowledge and experience to support our patients throughout their pathway.
Another key thing that I’ve learned about the CNS role is the huge amount of work that we do underneath the surface that I never realized before. Ensuring that patients meet certain points in their treatment pathways and that things go as smoothly as possible for them, we are in a vital role.
We have more time to give to our patients, while on the day unit I was able to see patients more frequently when they came in for their treatment but it's a very busy environment and time is very limited.
So, I feel one of the most rewarding things for me in the CNS role is having that time to talk to our patients, whether it's giving them psychological support or pinpointing them in other directions that we can offer or different support services to them.
The CNS role also is a very autonomous role, which I’ve learned, coming from the other parts of the hospital from inpatients and outpatients and having the knowledge of what the patient experience is like.
It's helped me to identify gaps in the service and other potential opportunities that I can use to develop and improve the service for our patients. One of the things that I’m hoping to develop over the next year or so is a support group for our cancer patients with lower GI cancers.
I know that patients meeting other patients, when they come for treatment, the support they get from those patients and speaking to them every two weeks on the day unit is valuable. So, I’m hoping that a support group would provide that opportunity.
I can see myself staying in the CNS role long term, it's a very exciting opportunity for me because I can see the potential that I can bring to the role and help develop the service even further so that it can be the best so that we can give the best to our patients.
That is why we are here, nobody wants to have to go through a cancer experience but we're in a position where we can make it a better experience for our patients and be there to support them the whole way through.