Page 27 - Inspire Magazine

Working in

partnership

with

patients

Jackie Byers is an LCNS based at It’s so much better if we can get in
Glasgow’s Victoria Infirmary. She there at the start of that journey and
loves helping people face the start to build trust – it’s not
challenges of living with lung cancer. something that happens overnight
- but hopefully we can build a solid
“We try to provide emotional relationship to benefit the patient.
support for patients and their
families. When a patient is diagnosed, Part of our job is to empower
it’s a very confusing time for them patients, give them the confidence to
and for their families - the world has ask questions. Quite often we’ll
just been turned totally urge them to write
upside down, and we “Patients and everything down when
try to untangle all of families try to they’re at home, nice
that and try to help protect each other, and relaxed, so that
the patient make so they tend not to when they come in for
sense of it. a consultation with the
ask questions that oncology team they

A lot of patients and they don’t want can go through their
families try to protect to hear the questions step-by-step.
each other, so they answer to...
tend not to ask We also encourage
questions that they that can really them to bring
don’t want to hear the hinder the patient somebody with them,
answer to in case it in their journey.” because often when
upsets their partner or you’re in that
their children. It’s a sort of collusion, environment, you tend to close up or
if you like, and that can really hinder to forget things – so having someone
the patient in their journey. with you can help – they can act as
a prompt, but they can also remind
So, we try to take the patient away, you of what’s been said.
to talk to them on their own, but
also support the family to let them When we identify a patient who’s
know that this is a normal part of struggling in this way, we, as lung
the journey. We’ll speak to them cancer nurse specialists, will try to go
separately too, because they often into that consultation as well, so that
have issues they don’t want to bring we can discuss what’s been said and
up. They also might have difficulties make sure they’re clear about
in speaking openly. It’s often a case of everything. We try to encourage
two people travelling along, but they them to see the doctor or
have very different journeys, with oncologist as just a normal person INSPIRE 2018
different worries and questions. who’s there to help them”.

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