Amy Nolan, Lead Cancer Nurse

Please tell us about yourself and your role as Lead Cancer Nurse?

I am our Lead Cancer Nurse within St James’s Hospital (SJH), Dublin. I provide leadership, co-ordination and management of Nursing Practice Development and Cancer Education within the Trinity St. James’s Cancer Institute (TSJCI).  To my knowledge no other Irish hospital has a ‘Lead Cancer Nurse’ role, which must make me unique! 

During my career I have always striven to address patient needs, deliver best-in-class care, evaluate performance and maintain awareness of the latest innovations and clinical advances in cancer care. I am fortunate to have held multiple extremely rewarding and key roles, and have attained a Masters qualification (MSc. Clinical Leadership – First-class) too. 

How long have you been in this role?

I commenced my current role as Lead Cancer Nurse in 2018.  I have over 20 years Oncology Nursing Experience, across various nursing roles which have given me a broad skillset and many insights to utilise in my current role.

How have you prepared to do this role?

I have been fortunate to have had considerable career development, and real-world oncology experience across my multiple roles within the HOPe Directorate, St James’s Hospital. My prior roles have included; Staff Nurse in the Oncology In-patient ward, Oncology CNS, Cancer Clinical Trials, Palliative Care CNS and Cancer Genetics CNS. I was also the Clinical Nurse Manager of the Haematology Oncology Day Ward for seven years. My prior roles have empowered me to learn, grow and deepen my experience and approach throughout my SJH career. One of our strengths within TSJCI is a real opportunity to lead on projects you are passionate about. I’ve been grateful to receive management support towards the delivery of stand-out projects including; the development of a cancer genetic webpage, and the launch of a Haematology Oncology Telephone Triage capability. 

To build-on my skills and leadership competence, I have also completed a number of post-graduate courses, which include Oncology and Management qualifications.  My most-recent qualification attained was an MSc. in Clinical Leadership in Healthcare (First class) awarded by University College Dublin (UCD), which I enjoyed immensely and found beneficial in the performance of my current role.

What are some of the challenges you face in this role?

I have a daily need to balance many high-priority and high-visibility activities and projects which I am involved-in or lead. On any given day many of the activities and deliverables which I am involved with and need to take prioritisation decisions upon, can sometimes feel of equal importance (and enjoyment!). Therefore, I have a challenge to face daily around “What comes first, and what needs to be delivered with the closest deadlines”, and ensure that the required colleagues, planning and vision are in-place along the way.

What are some of the successes you’ve seen in this role?

I have had many moments over the years where I have reflected and taken pride in both our colleagues, and the overall institution and standing of St James’s Hospital as a leading Hospital in Ireland and Europe.

One major success has been the ‘European Organisation for Cancer Institutes’ (OECI) accreditation of TSJCI as a ‘Cancer Centre’, where Nursing was pin-pointed by their accreditation team as being “exemplary”. Such an external accolade of our Nursing faculty and SJH overall is a momentous ‘yardstick’ where we can measure our competence, motivation and quality against the highest international standards.

Apart from defining ‘success’ through one stand-out instance; I think the greatest success I’ve witnessed is the appreciation from our patients and their families for the daily care, medical expertise and empathy which we afford them, their families and friends. All those moments where our patients express their gratitude for what we as the staff and community at SJH provide by way of medical care and guidance is the key success which we are all so proud of. 

What is the greatest skill as a nurse that helps you in this role?

I think leadership and relationship building in combination are key skills which I rely upon in the daily performance of my duties. It is my role to lead, provide and convey vision, innovation and prioritise on our cancer nursing strategy and education programme. What we achieve is certainly a team effort, and I engage with many stakeholders both internally within TSJCI, and externally with numerous key partners both in Ireland and overseas to reach our goals. 

My multi-faceted role requires a lead in decision-making, stakeholder engagement and adherence to timelines. One of the key functions of this role is communications.  Working with the Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute Communications groups I am involved in a variety of activities to raise public awareness around cancer prevention and cancer services, assisting in the development of key messages to stakeholders, the general public and media to many thousands of ‘Followers’ in Ireland and further afield.  I assist by developing and implementing other educational projects, materials and events. I work with social media and online platforms to engage with the all stakeholders to raise awareness and engagement with our services, our programmes such as Cancer Survivorship and our clinical research including its benefits and in so doing furthering the objectives of the Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute to provide comprehensive cancer care.