It’s a gentle, intimate environment with less waiting around
When people ask Fiona Fitch why she does the job she does, her heart barely misses a beat before she replies: “Why wouldn’t I?”
After retraining to become a nurse at the age of 49, Fiona began her nursing career on a surgical ward before starting work in oncology/haematology a year ago. Fiona qualified as a chemo nurse earlier in the year and works on the mobile cancer care unit based in Bury St Edmunds in West Suffolk
“I find the job so rewarding,” she says. “I love being able to make things a little easier for people who are going through such a challenging time.”
Despite running a property development company for many years, Fiona had always hankered after a career in nursing, but she says she lacked the confidence when she was younger to do anything about it. After her children became less dependent, it gave her the opportunity to start the training, and she hasn’t looked back.
Any qualms she might have had about her decision to switch careers later in life were quashed when, during her training, she was shortlisted for the Royal College of Nursing’s Student Nurse of the Year award.
“That was a real boost for me,” she says, but adds that the real satisfaction comes from her job, which continues every day when she is working on the unit.
I try to see the person rather than the patient, and I really love the intimacy of the unit where there are just two nurses, a driver and four patients at any one time.
“A day on the unit is very different from a day working in the hospital, where it is more difficult to get away from that clinical feel. When people attend hospital, they are in a mixed group where there will be some who are acutely unwell.
“You have to be well enough to attend the mobile unit so the people that use it can often be getting on with their lives day to day without focusing on their illness too much. It’s good for their morale to think they are leading fairly normal lives that are not completely dominated by the disease and treatments.
“When people attend the unit, it’s usually at the same time every week, so they tend to get to know the person in the chair opposite. They build up a relationship, and although it might sound odd, some of them look forward to their weekly catch-up with the friends they have made. It’s a gentle, intimate environment with less waiting around because we are dealing with smaller numbers than a hospital so we can generally run to schedule.
Fiona works on board our mobile cancer care unit, ‘Frisbey’, which operates in partnership with West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
“The other big advantage is that the relaxed setting really encourages people to ask us questions, and that could be anything from dietary queries to other things niggling them that they might be hesitant to ask in a more clinical environment. If they see staff rushing around, they can sometimes feel they don’t want to be a bother. But we have the time and we are accessible. The people who attend the unit very much become part of our nursing family.”
Fiona says being a nurse on the unit is a bit like being a detective.
“You notice things and look out for signs that something might be a bit off. If someone looks a bit pale, you’ve got more chance of noticing it on someone you saw just last week,” she says.
“And there’s quite a bit of conversation that goes on. They might mention something about a pain or upset stomach, and it’s very easy and relaxed to just say, ‘Tell me a bit more about that.’
“Things like that are not always so easy to pick up on in a bustling hospital where the most needy and seriously ill patients are understandably vying for attention.
“You get the chance on the unit to build up a picture of people, you get to know them and their families. You meet their partners and their children, and you are building a relationship with them at a time when they are at their most vulnerable.”
Fiona says there are invariably people who attend the unit who just want to keep to themselves, have their treatment and leave.
“But in all honesty, we don’t get many,” she says.
“We are very intuitive at working out the ones that do, and we respect their wishes while making it clear we are there if they change their minds and want to speak.”
Fiona says the best part of the job is following the progress people make week by week during their time attending the unit and building a rapport.
“You see them when they first come in, and you go on their journey with them. It’s just great to see them get their lives back again,” she says.
“Of course, some don’t make it. You see the same faces, and sometimes it’s hard witnessing the gradual deterioration and the impact it has on the whole family. It does pull at the heartstrings.”
But she says: “It can be very sad and painful, and it is the downside to an otherwise deeply rewarding and fulfilling job that offers such a great service. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
The mobile unit on which Fiona works as a nurse, providing first-class cancer care to patients in their community, is now due for an upgrade. To help us continue bringing mobile cancer care closer to patients throughout the region, please donate to support our West Suffolk-based mobile unit, ‘Frisbey’, today.
It’s a gentle, intimate environment with less waiting around
When people ask Fiona Fitch why she does the job she does, her heart barely misses a beat before she replies: “Why wouldn’t I?”
After retraining to become a nurse at the age of 49, Fiona began her nursing career on a surgical ward before starting work in oncology/haematology a year ago. Fiona qualified as a chemo nurse earlier in the year and works on the mobile cancer care unit based in Bury St Edmunds in West Suffolk
“I find the job so rewarding,” she says. “I love being able to make things a little easier for people who are going through such a challenging time.”
Despite running a property development company for many years, Fiona had always hankered after a career in nursing, but she says she lacked the confidence when she was younger to do anything about it. After her children became less dependent, it gave her the opportunity to start the training, and she hasn’t looked back.
Any qualms she might have had about her decision to switch careers later in life were quashed when, during her training, she was shortlisted for the Royal College of Nursing’s Student Nurse of the Year award.
“That was a real boost for me,” she says, but adds that the real satisfaction comes from her job, which continues every day when she is working on the unit.
I try to see the person rather than the patient, and I really love the intimacy of the unit where there are just two nurses, a driver and four patients at any one time.
“A day on the unit is very different from a day working in the hospital, where it is more difficult to get away from that clinical feel. When people attend hospital, they are in a mixed group where there will be some who are acutely unwell.
“You have to be well enough to attend the mobile unit so the people that use it can often be getting on with their lives day to day without focusing on their illness too much. It’s good for their morale to think they are leading fairly normal lives that are not completely dominated by the disease and treatments.
“When people attend the unit, it’s usually at the same time every week, so they tend to get to know the person in the chair opposite. They build up a relationship, and although it might sound odd, some of them look forward to their weekly catch-up with the friends they have made. It’s a gentle, intimate environment with less waiting around because we are dealing with smaller numbers than a hospital so we can generally run to schedule.
Fiona works on board our mobile cancer care unit, ‘Frisbey’, which operates in partnership with West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
“The other big advantage is that the relaxed setting really encourages people to ask us questions, and that could be anything from dietary queries to other things niggling them that they might be hesitant to ask in a more clinical environment. If they see staff rushing around, they can sometimes feel they don’t want to be a bother. But we have the time and we are accessible. The people who attend the unit very much become part of our nursing family.”
Fiona says being a nurse on the unit is a bit like being a detective.
“You notice things and look out for signs that something might be a bit off. If someone looks a bit pale, you’ve got more chance of noticing it on someone you saw just last week,” she says.
“And there’s quite a bit of conversation that goes on. They might mention something about a pain or upset stomach, and it’s very easy and relaxed to just say, ‘Tell me a bit more about that.’
“Things like that are not always so easy to pick up on in a bustling hospital where the most needy and seriously ill patients are understandably vying for attention.
“You get the chance on the unit to build up a picture of people, you get to know them and their families. You meet their partners and their children, and you are building a relationship with them at a time when they are at their most vulnerable.”
Fiona says there are invariably people who attend the unit who just want to keep to themselves, have their treatment and leave.
“But in all honesty, we don’t get many,” she says.
“We are very intuitive at working out the ones that do, and we respect their wishes while making it clear we are there if they change their minds and want to speak.”
Fiona says the best part of the job is following the progress people make week by week during their time attending the unit and building a rapport.
“You see them when they first come in, and you go on their journey with them. It’s just great to see them get their lives back again,” she says.
“Of course, some don’t make it. You see the same faces, and sometimes it’s hard witnessing the gradual deterioration and the impact it has on the whole family. It does pull at the heartstrings.”
But she says: “It can be very sad and painful, and it is the downside to an otherwise deeply rewarding and fulfilling job that offers such a great service. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
The mobile unit on which Fiona works as a nurse, providing first-class cancer care to patients in their community, is now due for an upgrade. To help us continue bringing mobile cancer care closer to patients throughout the region, please donate to support our West Suffolk-based mobile unit, ‘Frisbey’, today.
