The Role of the Specialist Nurse in Gynaecological Cancer

Abstract

There are many different job titles associated with the role of the specialist nurse. Nursing roles are evolving not only to meet the increasing demands on services but also within the ever changing landscape of cancer treatments and improvement in survival. Women and their families need specialist nurses to guide and support them on their cancer journey, along the treatment trajectory and into survivorship. This paper explores specialist nurse roles generally, and within our service which have been adapted to meet service and patient needs within a gynaecological cancer centre. Irrelevant of title, specialist nurses are best suited to meet the patients' needs. The fundamental ethos of the care should always remain having the patients' best interest at heart, acting as their advocate - in essence giving them a voice when they need it.

Perspectives of the sarcoma clinical nurse consultant role: A qualitative study

“…Cancer Care Coordinators ('Coordinators'; depending on jurisdiction, they may also be described as clinical nurse consultants, clinical nurse specialists or nurse navigators), play an important role in facilitating evidence based, patient-centred care ( Clinical Oncology Society of Australia, 2015 ). In cancer care, Coordinators generally work in a tumour specific multidisciplinary team (MDT) and provide clinical coordination and support to patients, however, there is some variability across tumour streams ( Buckley, Robertson, Wilson, Sharpless, and Bolton, 2018 ). In Western Australia (WA), large tumour groups (e.g.…”

Cancer specialist nurses' experiences of supporting family members of persons diagnosed with colorectal cancer: A qualitative study

“…In clinical cancer care, cancer specialist nurses (CSN) have been highlighted as essential due to their key position in providing support to both the persons diagnosed with CRC and their family members throughout the trajectory (Buckley et al, 2018;Luck et al, 2017;Cook et al, 2021;Fleure and Sara, 2020). The title and role of CSNs vary between countries and contexts (Buckley et al, 2018;Luck et al, 2017;Cook et al, 2021).…”

“…In clinical cancer care, cancer specialist nurses (CSN) have been highlighted as essential due to their key position in providing support to both the persons diagnosed with CRC and their family members throughout the trajectory (Buckley et al, 2018;Luck et al, 2017;Cook et al, 2021;Fleure and Sara, 2020). The title and role of CSNs vary between countries and contexts (Buckley et al, 2018;Luck et al, 2017;Cook et al, 2021). Generally, the CSN is a registered nurse with specialist knowledge in specific cancer care and treatment who can offer continuous expert and accessible care, who is a key worker and advocates for the diagnosed persons, and who provides support to the persons diagnosed with CRC and their family members (Buckley et al, 2018;Luck et al, 2017;Cook et al, 2021).…”

“…The title and role of CSNs vary between countries and contexts (Buckley et al, 2018;Luck et al, 2017;Cook et al, 2021). Generally, the CSN is a registered nurse with specialist knowledge in specific cancer care and treatment who can offer continuous expert and accessible care, who is a key worker and advocates for the diagnosed persons, and who provides support to the persons diagnosed with CRC and their family members (Buckley et al, 2018;Luck et al, 2017;Cook et al, 2021). Due to the evolving cancer care over the past few decades, the CSN's role has expanded (Buckley et al, 2018;Charalambous et al, 2018;Lemonde and Payman, 2015;Cook et al, 2021;Kelly et al, 2020).…”

“…Generally, the CSN is a registered nurse with specialist knowledge in specific cancer care and treatment who can offer continuous expert and accessible care, who is a key worker and advocates for the diagnosed persons, and who provides support to the persons diagnosed with CRC and their family members (Buckley et al, 2018;Luck et al, 2017;Cook et al, 2021). Due to the evolving cancer care over the past few decades, the CSN's role has expanded (Buckley et al, 2018;Charalambous et al, 2018;Lemonde and Payman, 2015;Cook et al, 2021;Kelly et al, 2020). Nowadays, apart from supportive care, it includes working collaboratively with and educating other professions and ensuring effective communication (Buckley et al, 2018;Luck et al, 2017;Cook et al, 2021).…”