Breakthrough Breast Cancer Nurses Workshop 2009: Names not numbers
Here's a report from KAREN IVES-SMITH, Breast Care Nurse Specialist at Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, who saw the event from both sides of the lectern.
Pride Park, Derby
Being a breast care nurse from Derby, the location was great - Pride Park is easily accessible from the M1/A38. However, the audience came from across Britain and as far away as Northern Ireland, and they weren't disappointed!
I was lucky enough to be a delegate in the morning and a speaker in one of the workshops in the afternoon.
The day started with an introduction and welcome from Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, who explained the theme for this year's workshop - Names not numbers. Many of the topics throughout the day focused on specific patient groups and their individual needs.
The first talk centred on the psychological health for breast care nurses and proved to be very interesting and informative. Professor Walker presented results from a national study regarding psychiatric morbidity among colorectal surgeons and colorectal clinical nurse specialists.
The results showed that nurse specialists are less emotionally exhausted and depersonalised than surgeons, yet two-thirds of them intend to retire early. A third of colorectal nurse specialists were clinically anxious and depressed, once again something that might be similar to the way breast care nurses feel. Professor Walker concluded that the NHS is a "toxic environment" when it comes to burnout and more needs to be done within the NHS to improve the working lives of its staff.
Reconstruction
Douglas Macmillan, Consultant Breast Surgeon, took "immediate reconstruction - access for all?" as his topic and his short answer for this was "yes". Douglas feels strongly that all patients requiring a mastectomy should have the opportunity to discuss their reconstructive options, even if this means advising them to have delayed breast reconstruction.
It would seem that the immediate breast reconstruction service varies considerably across the country and a national breast reconstruction audit has just closed. Douglas also gave the audience an insight into the use of fat transfer in breast reconstruction to correct deformities.
The morning continued with a talk on best practice in the management of lymphoedema. Interestingly, studies are still underway around lymphoedema and the incidence post-sentinel lymph node biopsy. Patients should be referred to a lymphoedema clinic if arm and/or breast swelling is still present six-to-eight weeks post operatively. Research is also being undertaken surrounding genetics and lymphoedema.
The morning concluded with a thought-provoking talk entitled "MDT working: who is it good for?" This encouraged clinical nurse specialists to have more involvement in multidisciplinary team discussions and decision making. The participation and contribution of clinical nurse specialists can enable the MDT discussions to be more patient focused.
Interactive workshops
Part of the afternoon was divided into workshops for which I was one of the speakers. I felt this made the sessions more interactive for both speaker and audience. My only criticism was that only one session was repeated so you had to be quite selective about what you wanted to go to.
The remaining talks in the afternoon were entitled "Genetics: the role of low penetrance alleles" and "A partner's perspective". The talk on genetics was both fascinating and a little mind-blowing at the same time. Research still underway is looking at combinations of alleles.
A partner's perspective was presented by a clinical psychologist, who highlighted the need to find opportunities for partners to be heard and not judged. Partners need reassuring that their thoughts, however negative, are often a natural emotion at that time.
Overall, a very informative and enjoyable workshop with quality refreshments provided throughout the day. I look forward to next year's event.