A Day in the Life of a Breast Care Nurse Specialist

Siobhan O’Neill, Breast Care Nurse Specialist at Belfast Health and Social Care Trust provides a detailed look at what a typical day in her nursing role involves. 

I have 25 years’ experience as a registered nurse. During that time, I worked on a female general surgery and breast ward when I completed The Principles and Practice of Breast Care Nursing in The Christie Hospital in Manchester.

I have worked as a breast care nurse for 15 years in the Belfast City Hospital. Each day is different, showcasing the diversity of the breast care nursing role. I am one of the keyworkers for the breast care team and as such I serve as a central point of contact and support for a person throughout their breast cancer journey, from diagnosis through treatment and beyond.

A typical day starts with checking emails and voicemails which always involves coffee. Once a week as a team we start a Thursday with some simple yoga moves and stretches.

In the morning there are several clinics running. The workload is divided between all the breast care nurses. I will either attend a consultant led breast assessment clinic, run a nurse-led health needs assessment clinic, visit post-op reconstruction patients on the surgical ward, do a telephone support clinic for post-op patients, do a prosthesis/nipple fitting clinic, attend NHS Breast Screening recall clinic, or run a nurse-led scar therapy clinic. 

The afternoon clinics are like the above, but the consultant led clinics are always results. These are long clinics, and we are present to provide the appropriate level of support and information that is required to facilitate people making informed decisions about their care. The range and complexity of treatment is recognised and often the patient requires more than one appointment and/or a follow-up telephone call from the breast care nurse.

We end the week with our multidisciplinary team meeting which takes place on a Friday afternoon, and our role is sharing information, coordinating person centred care and being the patient advocate.

Throughout the week we provide education and information to the people attending our clinics, but we also extend that to our colleagues by providing inhouse training.

I am one of the organisers of our biannual Breast Health and Wellbeing Events. This is a rolling event for all patients who have nearly completed or come to the end of their hospital-based treatments. It is an educational session focusing on the tools and information for patients to feel prepared and equipped to move forward in their recovery. 

Breast cancer outcomes continue to improve along with the advancements in diagnostics and treatments, but we also recognise this is very overwhelming and stressful to our patients. Being part of a dynamic nursing team, we are always looking at ways that can enhance and improve person centred care, and this brings with it the job satisfaction in a very demanding role. 

It is a demanding role and what we do as breast care nurses can be hard to quantify and measure. We blend the evidence-based knowledge along with the art of nursing.

The caffeine and the more mindfulness approach of yoga help us to push through the week.  We also rely on recognised strategies of team reflection, support and communication to help manage the emotional load and stress that comes with the role.