Helping patients and whanau navigate the cancer journey."Weaving the way" was the theme of the 14th National Haematology and Oncology Nurses' Conference, held in Christchurch from March 23-24. This theme highlights the important role nurses and other health professionals play in helping patients and their whanau navigate their journey from cancer diagnosis and treatment, through to coping with their illness and maximising their quality of life. The programme was opened by Life coach Phil Kerslake who spoke on his experiences of cancer. A six-times lymphoma survivor, he spoke of his tactical use of psycho-social measures to support his recovery. Professor of nursing and director of research at the University of Sydney The University of Sydney, established in Sydney in 1850, is the oldest university in Australia. It is a member of Australia's "Group of Eight" Australian universities that are highly ranked in terms of their research performance. , Kate White, gave a key note address titled "Opportunities and challenges in cancer nursing" This focused on the aged patient with cancer and the growing evidence of "under-treatment" of the elderly. Faced with a growing aged population, White emphasised the principles of aged care. These included the need for extensive assessment, eg cognitive function cognitive function Neurology Any mental process that involves symbolic operations–eg, perception, memory, creation of imagery, and thinking; CFs encompasses awareness and capacity for judgment and assessment of co-morbidities. She also emphasised the importance of carers of elderly cancer patients as members of the decision making process to enable a quality outcome for the patient. White spoke about survivorship survivorship n. the right to receive full title or ownership due to having survived another person. Survivorship is particularly applied to persons owning real property or other assets, such as bank accounts or stocks, in "joint tenancy. issues and her research into nurse-led follow-up care. Follow-up care included support for the recovering patient, and support for those in transition from acute care to achieving health and recovery. These clinics were called wellness clinics and were situated in the community. The conference covered all facets of haematology and oncology nursing and included speakers with expertise in childhood and adolescent cancer (clinical director of the South Island Child Cancer Service, Rob Corbett) to issues of support for surviving cancer (CanSupport coordinator with the Wellington Cancer Society Sue Corkill). Clinical issues were covered with an overview of multiple myeloma multiple myeloma A malignant proliferation of abnormal plasma cells that populate the marrow-containing bones of the body. The affected plasma cells produce myeloma protein, a monoclonal antibody that replaces normal antibodies in the blood, thereby increasing susceptibility from a young and elderly perspective (consultant haematologist Noun 1. haematologist - a doctor who specializes in diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs hematologist medical specialist, specialist - practices one branch of medicine at Palmerston North Hospital Bart Baker) to an update on breast cancer treatment This article or section recently underwent a major revision or rewrite and needs further review. You can help! The mainstay of breast cancer treatment is surgery when the tumor is localized, with possible adjuvant hormonal therapy (with tamoxifen or an aromatase in New Zealand focusing on both current and future treatment trends (breast cancer researcher Anna Bashford). The concurrent sessions, which enable nurses in clinical practice to share their work, were informative. The presentations included comparisons between patients' and nurses' understandings of cancer patients' quality of life, innovative practice such as nurse-led clinics in oncology practice, as well as results of research for practice issues. Among these was a clinical trial using 70 percent ethanol to prevent luminal microbial microbial pertaining to or emanating from a microbe. microbial digestion the breakdown of organic material, especially feedstuffs, by microbial organisms. colonisation in cuffed tunnelled catheters, the efficacy of mechanical protection of the skin during radiation therapy, and development of an extravasation extravasation /ex·trav·a·sa·tion/ (ek-strav?ah-za´shun) 1. a discharge or escape, as of blood, from a vessel into the tissues; blood or other substance so discharged. 2. the process of being extravasated. policy. The conference was attended by 200 delegates, speakers, poster presenters and exhibitors. The opportunity to network, gain knowledge and up-skill on innovative clinical practice was invaluable. Congratulations to chair Glynis Cumming and members of the organising committee for a well organised and well structured conference and for the entertaining conference dinner "A night at the races At The Races is a British television channel, originally co-founded with Channel 4, but now owned by a partnership between British Sky Broadcasting, Arena Leisure PLC and 28 (out of the 59) UK racecourses. " To borrow from Sue Corkill, a Lot of us went home, not only passionate about nursing, but also passionate about horse racing! Report by cancer nurses' section chair Trish Clark |
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