Be aware of the effect language and phrases can have on cancer patients

Healthcare professionals share their experiences as cancer patients and details of the RCNi Cancer Nursing Conference

‘Whenever anyone asked if I was a I nurse I’d say: “Yes, but I know nothing about leukaemia.”

'I may be different from those who want to know everything, but I made a conscious decision to just be a patient, only involving my professional knowledge once or twice. I trusted my team to do what’s best for me. It was my way of surviving.’

Dorthe Swaby-Larsen was a nurse consultant in emergency care at a London hospital when she was diagnosed in 2014 with acute promyelocytic leukaemia.

Ms Swaby-Larsen, along with Liz O'Riordan, a breast surgeon, and Jenny Lowe, a retired