One of the biggest roles of a McGrath Breast Care Nurse is advocacy for patients.
“There’s a lot of problem solving, emotional support, redirecting traffic and getting in touch with appropriate services. You are supporting people and speaking up on their behalf,” she says.
“A lot of people get lost in the system, they don’t know where to start so being a central contact point is one of biggest benefits that I can offer. The amount of appointments, tests, scans and information gets overwhelming, so having someone there who they can speak to about treatment takes the pressure off patients.”
While a big part of being a McGrath Breast Care Nurse is providing emotional support, it is also about providing clinical care.
“It is very science based. We are monitoring people, making judgements and decisions and calls about whether people need to be admitted to hospital,” Sue says.
It helps to have a strong background in oncology to do this role.”
Sue is based at a community health center rather than a hospital, which has an important impact on her role.
“I like the autonomy of being in the community health center. All McGrath Breast Care Nurses have different focuses, I’m a sole provider, however and I work with the Community Health team around me,” including community nurses. Social workers and palliative care, to name a few. she says.
“Being a part of the community means mine is a really long relationship with the patient, if that’s what they agree to. I still go to hospitals here and also have the capacity to do home visits after surgery, which is very useful.