16

Writing on the wall

EONS Board members Mary Wells,

Francoise Charnay-Sonnek and

Sultan Kav judge the posters.

A rt and science are both equally

important for poster presentation.

A well-designed and visually

attractive poster is likely to

encourage conference delegates to stop and look.

The use of colour, images and photographs can

provide welcome relief from the sheer volume

of information that delegates are exposed to in

the many scientific symposia, proffered paper

sessions and debates.

But appearance isn’t the only thing that matters.

The science behind a good poster must be rigorous

and the communication of a clear and important

message is crucial.

DIVERSE THEMES AND PRESENTATIONThis year, many of the nursing posters were of a

very high standard. Submitted under the themes

of Advanced Nursing Roles; Impact of Cancer on

Patients and Families; Supportive and Palliative Care;

New Developments; Survivorship and Rehabilitation;

Symptom Management; the posters covered issues

as diverse as experience based co-design, the use

of frozen gloves to prevent nail changes in patients

receiving docetaxel and the changing experience of

coping with nodal relapse in melanoma.

The presentation of the posters was equally

diverse, making judging quite a challenge. I was

particularly impressed by the posters describing

rehabilitation initiatives, illustrating the fantastic

work that is going on around Europe to promote

health and wellbeing after treatment is over.

There were a number of posters that especially

caught my attention: a beautifully illustrated

pilot study of an art therapy programme from

Switzerland, an innovative public involvement

programme for research in London, and a poster

describing the initiation of a project which will

include patient reported outcomes as part of a

routine national dataset in Sweden. There were

By Mary Wells

Professor of Cancer

Nursing Research

& Practice at

NMAHP Research

Unit, University

of Stirling.

E C C 2 0 1 3

Rehabilitation nursing to patients during

treatment for colorectal cancer

How to endure life during treatment for colorectal cancer

– Birgitte Pedersen, B. Winther, T. Bladt, B.K. Hansen, A. Norlyk

Birgitte Pedersen talks about the project that informed the winning

poster at ECC:

Re

trea

How

– B

Birgit

poster

Our project at the Department of

Oncology, Vejle Hospital, in Den-

mark, focuses on rehabilitation

nursing care for rectal cancer

patients. This group of patients

was chosen partly due to their

vulnerability in the sense of short-

and long-term side effects and

partly because of the taboo

involved in having rectal can-

cer. Also, there was a need for

improvement of rehabilitation

care for these patients.

In Denmark rectal cancer ranks

fifth in frequency of malignant dis-

eases and ninth in women, with

around 1,400 new cases each

year. The treatment may include

surgery, chemotherapy and radio-

therapy depending on the disease

pattern of the individual patient.

This project involved an inter-

view clarifying the experiences

of patients in their everyday lives

during and after the course of

treatment. The purpose was to

identify the patients’ perception

of the challenges in this respect.

Method

Qualitative design inspired by

hermeneutics/phenomenology.

Ten qualitative, semi-structured

interviews were conducted, i.e.

six men and four women were

all interviewed at different times

during and after their course of

treatment.

The analysis was inspired by

Kvale & Brinkmann’s sense of

interpretation and resulted in

four themes:

Coping with the changed body

Reorganizing everyday life

Accepting help from family

and friends

Seeing life from a different

perspective

The results of this project will form

the basis of a “Rehabilitation pro-

gram for rectal cancer patients”

offering patients and relatives

conversations and training based

on their own challenges. We wish

to offer them support to make

their lives worth living during and

after treatment for rectal cancer.

The main purpose of this pro-

ject was to focus on the patient

perspective, since the current lit-

erature shows cancer treatment

has a major influence on the

everyday lives of patients as well

as their close relations. The stories

of these patients show that a can-

cer diagnosis changes a per-

son’s life and existential

questions arise. This

is important knowl-

edge for nurses in the

daily clinic.

We were very happy

and proud that our

poster won a prize and

we really appreciate the

recognition from profes-

sional colleagues. It con-

firms the relevance of

the issue and the

impor tance

of contin-

ued work

on the

subject.

these patients show that a can-

cer diagnosis changes a per-perper

son’s life and existential

questions arise. This

important knowl-

edge for nurses in the

daily clinic.

We were very happy

and proud that our

poster won a prize and

we really appreciate the

recognition from profes-

sional colleagues. It con-

firms the relevance of

the issue and the

impor tance

contin-

ued work

on the

subject.

posters from clinical teams, educationalists,

researchers and charities.

European cancer nurses are clearly engaged

in an impressive range of practice innovations

and research projects, which influence the care

of people with cancer, locally and nationally. It

was particularly encouraging to see posters from

countries that are usually under-represented at

European congresses.

AND THE WINNER IS…We shortlisted 8-10 posters and deliberated for some

time, eventually deciding on the following winner of

the best poster at ECCO 17:

How to endure life during treatment for colorectal

cancer Birgitte Pedersen, B. Winther, T. Bladt, B.K.

Hansen, A. Norlyk, from Denmark. Birgitte will

receive free registration at EONS 9.

In second place, we chose a poster from Rennes

(France) entitled, Clinical nurse specialist: a key

link to manage patients using targeted therapies –

experience of Centre Eugene Marquis by A. M’Sadek,

M. Duval, J. Edeline, C. Lefeuvre, T. Lesimple, E.

Vauléon, S. Sizun, B. Laguerre, E. Boucher. In third

place was The importance of combination therapy in

patients with lymphoedema – L Buzea and C Ancuta,

from Romania.

Birgitte Thisgaard Pedersen