Lung cancer clinical nurse specialist

摘要

Since qualifying as a registered nurse in 1996, I have worked with patients undergoing diagnostics or treatment for lung cancer, firstly as a newly qualified nurse on a cardiothoracic surgical ward, then as a clinical nurse practitioner developing a pre-assessment service for patients having surgical investigations and treatment and now in my current post as a lung cancer clinical nurse specialist (CNS). I am proud to work for a unit (Liverpool Lung Cancer Unit, LLCU) that is unique in that it is a partnership between two hospital trusts, one being a busy inner city district general hospital where the inpatient service is based, and the other a regional tertiary cardiothoracic foundation trust that houses the outpatient service. Lung cancer is the second most common cancer diagnosed in the UK, with the North of England and Scotland having the highest number of cases in the UK (Cancer Research UK, 2014). LLCU diagnoses around 400 patients a year.