Helping Highland patients navigate the information overload
A CANCER nurse who designed a booklet for patients with head and neck cancer has been honoured at NHS Highland’s Recognising Excellence Awards.
Staff nurse Florence Anderson, who works in the Macmillan suite at Raigmore Hospital, has been awarded a Person Centred Care award after being nominated by her charge nurse Janice Wilkie.
She designed an information booklet for head and neck cancer patients which has won praise from staff and patients. It is a particularly proud achievement for Mrs Anderson, who only started her career in nursing seven years ago.
She used to be a biology and science teacher at Elgin Academy but decided to retrain in her late 40s to follow her dream of becoming a nurse.
The 58-year-old was inspired to create a booklet, which brings together all the information surrounding the complex treatment of head and neck cancer in an easy to read format.
"For the last few years we have been seeing more and more head and neck cancer patients coming through the unit because the treatments have advanced so much," she said. "It is quite complex and there are a lot of different procedures before treatment. If patients come into this situation for the first time, they can feel very overwhelmed and vulnerable and frightened by the diagnosis. I saw a need for some form of information for patients that takes them from pre-treatment, through to treatment and post-treatment."
Mrs Anderson, who admits she loves her job, explained the complexities surrounding the treatment of head and neck cancer in particular. For example, before treatment, patients must have a dental check and necessary work done, as radiotherapy can make a patient’s mouth more sensitive and prone to infection.
They may also need a feeding tube as treatment can cause the neck to swell, and a mask created, to ensure the head stays still during radiotherapy.
Patients are "bombarded" with information, which is necessary so they can decide whether to have treatment.
"They can take this booklet away and other information leaflets as well," she continued. "We have a good information room with all Macmillan leaflets but nothing specific to this area, so the booklet is something they can take away."
The booklet, which has been in use for nine months, also contains sections for nurses and patients to record individual notes in.
"I think it has helped improve communication," Mrs Anderson added. "You can imagine the first consultation with a consultant, you take in so much information and then you can go into information overload. I have just broken it down and tried to make it simple, straight-forward and as user-friendly as possible."
