The following is placement advice from Elizabeth Ross, a third year children’s nursing student at Kingston and St George’s University London:

‘Placements on an oncology ward can be both daunting and exciting. Daunting because you know that you will be caring for children who are seriously ill, and their parents who might be struggling to come to terms with the diagnosis plus the strain that treatment places on everyday family life. Exciting because you will have the opportunity to learn – a lot.’

Elizabeth’s top tips to get the most out of your placement are:

• Prior to the placement, find out about the unit that you are going to. How many beds, is it an inpatient or day unit setting? What ages does it cater for?
• Familiarising yourself with the main childhood cancers will give you a head start and makes a good impression when you know your Wilms from your Rhabdomyosarcomas!

By having some understanding of the subject, via some pre-placement research, identifying learning opportunities (LOs) becomes a joint enterprise with your mentor. Some LOs to look out for are:

• Multidisciplinary team meetings. Some of these are conducted by video conferencing with teams from other hospitals.
• Seeing an MRI of a tumour is literally an excellent way of visualising what a cancer diagnosis can entail.
• Outpatient clinics. You can also learn a lot about the communication between doctors, clinical nurse specialists and the patients and their families.
• Radiotherapy. Many children will be having daily radiotherapy, ask to accompany them and observe how it works. Following one child over a few days can give you a better insight into how they are coping with the regime and how the family are managing. Talk to the Play Specialist about their role, especially for children with brain tumours who require plastic facial masks.
• Theatre. Observe Hickman Line and Portacath insertion and removal. The surgeon will probably explain how the lines work so when you see the nurses accessing ports or Hickmans it makes it easier to understand what they are doing.
• Making up trays. A good way to practise aseptic non-touch technique. You will also learn what equipment is needed to access ports and drawing up heparin saline flushes will aid your confidence when handling needles.
• Research Nurses, Outreach Nurses and Symptom Management Team. Spending a couple of hours with them is really valuable and highlights how far cancer treatment has come.

This has been a very short summary of some of the LOs available. You are supernumerary, so be proactive and get involved with as many different areas and experiences as you can. Sometimes if you don’t ask you don’t get. Treating all staff, patients and family with the respect that they deserve will ensure that your placement will be worthwhile and one that you will never forget.