Guest Post: What a MacMillan Nurse Achieves in a Week
As you will hopefully know, this year Loki’s Patent Blog is sponsoring MacMillan Cancer Support. Cancer touches everyone’s life in some way, indiscimrinately. MacMillan are one of the fantastic charities fighting the good fight, and supporting people facing up to cancer.
Working in innovation, we get to see up close and first-hand how our talented scientists, engineers, and others are working hard to develop new diagnostics, equipment, and treatments, giving hope to what would otherwise be hopeless. Supporting charities like Cancer Research UK is a noble thing to do, and directly funds this innovation. In time, we might resign many cancers to the history books: but what can we do for those fighting until such a time?
I chose MacMillan as the charity for Loki’s Patent Blog because they ensure that no one is left behind.
MacMillan provide end-of-life care for those who are terminally ill, providing them with dignity until they move onto the next place. They provide advice and support to the loved ones of those with cancer, ensuring they are armed to join the fight and support the people they love who may not have strength left to give. They are there for everyone and anyone, and they ask for nothing in return.
In my personal life, I have leant on MacMillan when I needed information to support my loved ones, answering questions I never wanted to ask. Within only minutes of calling, I was talking to an experienced cancer nurse who spent around half an hour on the phone with me answering my questions, giving me her professional opinion, and who encouraged me to phone back if I needed anything else. It was free. That call gave me the strength to be there for mam when she needed me, and to face up to her diagnosis together.
We are lucky to have this resource to hand, though of course I hope you will never need it.
Shortly after setting up Loki’s Patent Blog, a member of the MacMillan team reached out to me and asked me if I needed anything. I asked them to help me explain why this year’s goal is £1034.00. This is the cost of employing a MacMillan nurse for a week. They got in touch with one of their cancer nurses at a local lung cancer department who kindly provided me with a write up of an actual week in the course of their life work.
Monday - Donations required £206.80
In just the first day, the nurse answers phone calls and responds to messages left over the weekend, and schedules multiple calls for those who are about to undergo procedures imminently. They then see five more patients, dedicating extra time to be there for a patient and their loved one who are anxious at what is to come after learning they may have lung cancer.
Throughout the day, multiple telephone calls, e-mails, and discussions with patients and their relatives. They fight for these patients, chasing results, putting things in place to help those patients cope and arming them for their oncology appointments. They co-ordinate with imaging departments, district nurses and palliative care teams to make sure support is where its needed.
They tour the wards and see patients who have not yet been seen, giving their time to talk to those patients where needed. At some point, a GP contacts them regarding a patient who is having to undergo a computer tomography guided bracytherapy, and is understandably anxious. The nurses organise a home visit and in the mean time provide telephone support.
The nurses have already provided support to patients, their loved ones, and co-ordinated with colleagues to ensure the patients are supported and getting what they need when they need it.
This is just day one.
Tuesday - Donations required £413.60
The nurses do a clinic, seeing patients who are going through the diagnosis process for lung cancer, and help them to plan their next steps including biopsies, PET scans, and others tests. At the same time, they are there for those receiving results, providing information about their next steps, and providing supportive care to those who need it. They ensure to catch up with each patient by booking a telephone call the very next week.
On this day, with the assistance of a consultant, they are able to perform a biopsy on a patient at the clinic, meaning they do not have to return to hospital at a later date for the procedure.
Again, there is another round of responding to e-mails and messages, chasing up results for patients, and booking appointments and co-ordinating care for more, before ensuring patients on the wards are seen by the end of the day.
Wednesday - Donations required £620.40
Wednesday is a day spent catching up on outstanding jobs - referring patients for further assistance from district and palliative care teams, and responding to e-mails and calls from patients.
However, a newly suspected lung cancer patient is admitted and the respiratory doctors ask for support from the MacMillan nursing team. They attend. Once the procedure is done, they stay. They provide support, explaining their role, and informing them of what is to come. They provide emotional support to the patient and their relative. They provide contact details to help them with the next stages of their journey.
Thursday - Donations required £827.20
Today, they see new patients who are there to discuss their surgical options, and to provide ongoing support for any appointments that are upcoming.
They see new and known patients in the outpatients clinic, supporting them along their cancer journey and providing support for those who are at the end of treatment or otherwise are moving on to palliative care.
They attend a multidisciplinary team meeting to action outcomes for patients. It arises that a patient has been confirmed to have Small Cell Lung Cancer, and requires an urgent oncology appointment. The nurses phone them, and have them in the very same afternoon the same day to give them information and support.
The nurse pointed out that Thursday is a busy and emotionally draining day, but supporting patients and their families as they do on a day like today keeps them going.
Friday - Donations required £1034.00
Actions from yesterday’s multidisciplinary team meeting are completed. The inpatients are provided with support throughout the day, and the nurses meet with families to give them results and help them to plan their next steps. Alongside this, they are calling patients by phone who they’ve arranged to speak to provide support, assess their needs, and take action for them.
Summing Up
It’s plain to see, that in a short week, the nurses have been able to touch hundreds of lives, and offer their support to patients and their loved ones at a critical time, and to fight for them whether they are taking their first steps or their final steps on their journey.
This is undeniably a cause worthy of support. If you feel able, please support The Mission, and I’ll leave you with final words from the nurse:
