Oncology nurse of the year 2019: runner up

I was delighted to be ‘highly commended’ at the British Journal of Nursing Awards at the Shakespeare Globe in London. I was humbled to be nominated by my lead cancer nurse and a colleague. This offers me the opportunity to tell you about my career and my work as a breast care nurse consultant.

I would like to share the values that have been with me from the outset, and the people and circumstances that shaped them as my career progressed. In 1984, after a negative experience in a care home for people with physical disabilities where I worked as a carer, I trained as an enrolled nurse. Due to lack of training and education, carers treated patients without respect, dignity or individuality.

I was determined to train as a nurse and to ensure patients were not treated without compassion. I was hands-on, always at the bedside, delivering basic nursing care. I was 18 years old and this was a great privilege. I was proud to care for vulnerable patients, treating them as I would a relative. The experiences of those early years shaped me into the next decade, as nursing changed and we saw the introduction of Project 2000 nurses.