The Lived Experience of Venous Access- a Cancer Journey
Melissa Robinson-Reilly - Oncology Nurse Practitioner Candidate

My experiences as an Oncology Registered Nurse, with extended practice through nurse-initiated PICC insertion, was the impetus to understand the impact venous access has during treatment and how best to enhance the patient ‘lived experience'. Gaining insight can lead to improving quality of care through better understanding. The aim is to bring forth the voice of the oncology patients who have undergone venous access/cannulation, as there is a paucity of literature regarding this topic. This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of participants in order to better understand the impact of repeated cannulation on the cancer journey from the patients' perspective. I felt as a clinician it was important to understand this and felt it would be valuable to inform on best practice.

I commenced PhD through UNE in February 2007 and have now presented my findings locally, nationally, and at 5 international conferences and also published;

• Multinational Supportive Care in Cancer Conference, Rome Italy 2009
• National Cancer Research Institute Conference, Birmingham UK 2009
• 16thInternational Cancer Nursing Conference, Atlanta Georgia 2010
• 5th Pan-Pacific Nursing Conference and 7th Symposium on Cancer Care, Hong Kong 2011
• 2nd World Congress on Vascular Access, Amsterdam Netherlands 2012.

In this time I was successfully appointed to my current position as Oncology Transitional Nurse Practitioner and have also completed the course modules for Master of Nursing (NP). I have never tired from doing my PhD, instead I have made it work for me, with opportunities to network and see the world. I am passionate about my work and although the cohort of my study was small it is representative of those it is intended to help. Unfortunately not all of the participants will ever know the impact of their voice. But, I am confident this study will improve understanding of the experience of being cannulated from the patients' perspective, and contribute to best-practice and improved patient outcomes as the feedback I have received from presenting has been very positive.

The collaborative support from my PhD supervisors, Penny and Mary, have instilled that promoting nursing based research is invaluable to us as a profession.

Please find the link to the NSW Nurse Practitioner Formulary on the Nursing & Midwifery website for you to bookmark on your desktop.

http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/resources/nursing/practitioner/nsw_np_formulary_pdf.asp