National Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist Day

As the Chief Nursing Officer at Macmillan, I care deeply about cancer nursing – and it is a real privilege to promote this day and share my support for the role. I’ve been a CNS myself for over 25 years and I believe wholeheartedly in the essential contribution that CNS make to cancer care.

In my opinion, it is important that we recognise the complexity and skilled nature of the Cancer CNS role – and also the difference they make to the lives of people affected by cancer.

Firstly, there is clear evidence of the benefits that CNS offer to people living with cancer in terms of improving their quality of life and their experience of care - and potentially their survival.

Furthermore, CNS help to:

• reduce the number of emergency admissions
• the length of hospital stays
• the number of follow-up appointments
• the number of medical consultations
• and they also provide support to enable people to be cared for and to die in their place of choice.

This is why, at Macmillan, the Cancer CNS role is central to our mission to do whatever it takes to support people with cancer to live life as fully as they can.

We fund these specialist roles to offer as many people as possible the chance to have personalised care and support along their cancer journey – and we are proud to have over 6,700 Macmillan-badged CNS working in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

For those of you reading this, who are already in a CNS role, then I’d like to say thank you. Thank you for the incredible work you do, each and every day.

And, if you are contemplating a career in cancer nursing, then I can assure you this is a rewarding speciality to work in - with role variety, autonomy, and opportunity for professional development. You can develop advanced clinical skills within a defined area of nursing practice - from undertaking comprehensive assessments and making differential diagnoses, to prescribing nursing care and treatment and so much more; whilst also contributing to education, innovation, and research.

We recently launched a new cancer career framework called ACCEND (Aspirant Cancer Career and Education Development) to guide you through the levels of practice and associated competencies.

This year, we want National Cancer CNS Day to be even bigger and better, so please do join us in celebrating it and raising awareness of this vital role amongst your networks.

We must all play a part in championing the significant difference that having contact with a CNS can have on the lives of people living with and beyond cancer.