Nurses who redesigned their cancer services 'delighted' to share award

Northern Ireland’s first clinical nurse specialist for young people and a Macmillan nurse who developed a new screening tool shared the Cancer Nurse of the Year award.

Renée Reid, from Belfast Trust and Sally Convery from Northern Health and Social Care Trust were named joint winners at the RCN Northern Ireland Nurse of the Year Awards on June 8.

Ms Reid is funded by the Friends of the Cancer Centre charity to support 16-24 year olds with a cancer diagnosis.

To date she has helped 300 patients and their families and won praise for lobbying commissioners and stakeholders across the country to develop a multi-professional service.

She also undertakes age-appropriate needs assessments to run alongside health and well-being events for young people, providing a forum to discuss concerns regarding their treatment.

She said: ‘“I am truly delighted to win the award and I’ll also be sharing it with the young people and families who I’ve had the privilege of working with.’

Ms Convery became a Macmillan lung cancer specialist nurse in 2012 and immediately identified the need to refine the assessment process.

Working with other colleagues, she developed a tool to share information about patients and their condition within the health care team, particularly with GPs and district nursing services.

Together they also created a self-management programme for patients with lung cancer to help anticipate issues they may encounter, and make them aware of the support services they can access.

Ms Convery said: ‘I am delighted. Many of my patients are palliative at the point of diagnosis, however, it is very important that we do not lose hope when faced with this news.

‘We must ensure we make every moment count for them and their families by ensuring their wishes are paramount. I hope this is what I do every day within my role.’

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