By Mari-Louise Römbo, RN, Department of Haematology, University Hospital Lund, Sweden
I am a Registered Nurse (RN) and work as a contact nurse with allogenic transplanted patients and their follow-up care at the posttransplant department at the University Hospital in Lund, Sweden. I have 20 years of experience in caring for allogenic transplanted patients. At the posttransplant department we follow the patients from their discharge and until at least one year after transplantation. If the patient gets cGvHD and receives related treatment, then we follow the patient for as long as necessary, often several years.
At our posttransplant department we are two nurses taking care of these patients and one secretary scheduling their visits and does a lot of administration. About 60 patients are treated with allogeneic transplantation per year at our clinic. The patients have frequent visits at our posttransplant department, where they meet physicians and nurses, give blood samples, receive transfusions, intravenous fluids, vaccinations, and various treatments according to their condition and needs. The visit can be different depending on the patient´s needs and how they feel.
The aim with my centre visit was to learn from colleagues in Manchester and gain experiences from them and their perspectives in care of allogenic HCT patients. My special focus was on GvHD care and treatment. My contact there was John Murray, Nurse Clinician in Manchester. I was there for three days at the department of Haematology and with John at his specialised reception for cGvHD follow-up care. The patients at that reception are two years or longer after transplantation. I also visited the reception for new patients who were recently discharge from the in-patient care.
It was a great experience to see how they work in Manchester and take care of the patients. The treatment for the patients is mostly the same as at our clinic. John has his own reception for cGvHD follow-up care, and he prescribes the medications the patients normally take. At The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, they have an assessment form for the patients to self-report cGvHD. I found this self-report of cGvHD very interesting, and this is something we will discuss and might introduce to our patients in Lund. John also shared his position as a nurse clinician with the responsibility of training nurses in the hospital. I attended a training session where they had two patient cases that they went through. The nurses discussed the cases and come up whit different suggestions on how they wanted to treat and care for the patient. John guided the nurses through the cases with additional information during the discussions. It was a good opportunity for learning, both for new nurses and nurses with experience.
Thank you very much EBMT Nurses Group for this grant which made this visit possible and thank you John Murray who took care of me during these days in Manchester.