Patients with cancer who attended a clinic nurses instead of a consultant-led clinic to regulate radiation received more comments, more frequent consultations symptoms and good, according to a study in the June issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

And because the clinical nurse specialist was able to carry out 83 per cent of consultations without reference to issues of the consultant, patients also avoids the need to see your doctor routinely.

Researchers at the University of Dundee and the City of Ninewells Hospital also found that patients - who were undergoing treatment for head and neck cancer - were more likely to be forwarded to members of the multidisciplinary team. This led to better manage common side effects of radiotherapy, such as oral and nutritional problems.

When researchers compared 23 patients who attended the clinical nurse specialist led with 20 who had attended consultant-led clinics in the previous six months, found that patients reported few significant differences in quality of life. His remarks also show that especially value the relationship he had built with the clinical nurse specialist.

Comments by family physicians who participated in the study was also good. They were positive about the timing and content of information they received from the nurse specialist clinic patients about their ongoing treatment.

“Our study showed that clinical nurse specialists can play a key role in the management of head and neck cancer patients with radiotherapy and this can take the pressure occupied consultants, without reducing the quality of care” says author Principal Dr. Mary Wells, a professor and fellow at Cancer Research Clinic at the University of Nursing.

“As a result of our investigation, most clinics radiotherapy review Ninewells Hospital are now carried out by a nurse clinical specialist. However, greater investment is necessary to develop specialist nursing functions in the event of initiatives like this are to be replicated elsewhere in the UK. ”

The main findings of the study include:

* Nurses were able to spend 16 minutes at each visit - four times as long as consultants - patients had shorter waiting to see them (two minutes versus nine).

* Overall quality of life scores were similar in both groups, but patients in the clinic run by consultancy group reported slightly higher operating emotional.

Base pain scores were higher in the nurse-led group, but increased markedly less than in the medical group.

* Patients in the nurse-led group had better social outcomes for eating, social contact, dry mouth, sticky saliva, teeth problems and weight loss.

* Patients in the medical group were more likely to have lost weight and less likely to have gained weight, despite receiving more nutritional supplements.

“Our study demonstrates that the clinical nurse specialists in radiotherapy can lead effectively in dealing with examinations for patients through a protocol based approach that patients and family physicians and appreciate the support, information and communication provided by Clinics run by nurses, “said Dr Wells.

“The results suggest that when nurses work as part of a multidisciplinary team that can handle most of these routine consultations without direct input from consultants, even in this complex and symptomatic group.”

The study has led to direct changes in how the head and neck cancer patients are managed at Ninewells Hospital and most of the clinical examination of radiotherapy are now carried out by a nurse clinical specialist with specific training and experience in care of radiotherapy.

“The clinical nurse specialist is now able to prescribe a wider range of medicines and is responsible for coordinating complex treatment regimens and support to patients with complex symptoms” said Dr Wells.

“I also believe that there is considerable potential to develop evaluation and care of patients with head and neck cancer before and after treatment and during radiotherapy.

“Clinical nurse specialists are ideally placed to provide information and advice on issues such as health education, smoking cessation and alcohol consumption, to help reduce the impact of the patient’s symptoms and improve their quality of life .

“They could also provide support, community liaison and management of symptoms immediately after treatment when patients are no longer on a daily contact with the hospital, but the side effects that continue to affect their daily lives.”

But researchers point out that the potential for developing nurse-led radiotherapy clinics throughout the UK is hampered by lack of investment in radiotherapy nursing.

“Nurses working in radiotherapy are relatively few and postholders often work in isolation and their contribution has not been sufficiently recognized” said Dr Wells.

“We hope that our study and development of services that has inspired, will stimulate a debate about the valuable role that nurses can play in supporting cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy.

“We also hope that will highlight the need for greater investment in this valuable expertise.”

Other types of nurses

You might have a clue what kind of establishment that would like to work in one of his clinical rotations, through a nurse who knows you personally, or
of a classmate or clinical instructor. If you want to be interested in getting a better idea about what the different types of nurses in different settings do, they try to do some informational interviews. In contact with someone who has a job that you’re interested in and ask if they could interview about what their roles and responsibilities.

You may feel uncomfortable to call a complete stranger and ask them for half an hour or 45 minutes of your time. But remember that people like to talk about themselves, and if people are denied jobs particularly difficult, they really like to talk about what they do.

In case you do not have the foggiest idea of what kind of nurse you’d like to be and none of the super hot nursing jobs listed so far tickling your nursing career fantasy, here are some possibilities.