CLIC Sargent Nurse

The child's cancer journey

The aim of my work as the local CLIC Sargent Nurse is to reduce the disruption that cancer brings to the children and their families. I aim to turn the maze of a diagnosis of cancer into a journey of hope for the children and their families.

I visit the child at home or at school to take blood samples, monitor them and plan the next stage of their treatment. I can also give them some of their chemotherapy or antibiotics at home or in school so they make less visits to the hospital.

A diagnosis of cancer affects the whole family. The parents and siblings need the time and space to talk about what is going on and how their world has been turned upside down.

I spend time with the teaching staff in the child’s school, giving them information about the diagnosis of the child and the treatment they will undergo. How the school supports the child is very important, as it can be one of the only safe or normal places left for the child to be a child.

Information is what everyone needs. It's my role as the CLIC Sargent Nurse to supply this information about the child’s cancer journey, so that the child, the family, teachers and GPs can make informed decisions about what they need to do.

By far the most important thing that I offer the children, families, teachers and other health care professionals is support. They all need it at this devastating time. A CLIC Sargent Nurse, who has travelled this road many times, with many others, is in a good place to offer support, information and insight. All sick children will - at some time - think about what is going on in their bodies and in their inner worlds. On this journey, the CLIC Sargent Nurse will become their companion and their advocate.

Written by a CLIC Sargent Nurse.