Staff Nurse, Oncology

HSE Dublin and South East has been formed as part of the Slaintecare programme. The health region is responsible for the delivery of acute and community healthcare across South Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford, Waterford, Carlow, Kilkenny & South Tipperary.

Community healthcare Services are the broad range of services in a non-acute hospital setting, delivered as close as possible to people’s homes at the right time in the right time place, by the right team.

There are 70 Primary Care Centres in the Region and specialist teams in Mental Health, Health & Wellbeing, Social Care and Disability Services. Services are provided in various settings including the service users own home, day hospital, community nursing units, hostels, specialist day care centres, training centres, respite care, and residential services.

The region is served by 11 hospital and the services delivered include inpatient scheduled care, unscheduled/emergency care, maternity services, outpatient and diagnostic services.

Tipperary University Hospital (TippUH), Clonmel, Co. Tipperary is a Level 111 Acute Hospital. The hospital is part of the Dublin South East Region and is governed by the Executive Management Team TippUH, which is representative of the hospitals clinical and corporate functions to support the delivery of safe, efficient, effective, high-quality patient care. An important component of safe, efficient, effective, high-quality patient care is the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections.

The hospital has 256 inpatient beds and 22-day beds. TippUH provides acute hospital services to the geographically wide catchment area of Tipperary, West Waterford, and North Cork. The catchment population for the hospital is 160,000 approximately. The service also incorporates an Emergency Department, Minor Injuries Unit and Acute Medical Admissions Unit.

TippUH is also a teaching hospital with academic partnerships to University College Cork (UCC), University of Limerick (UL), University College Dublin, (UCD), and South East Technological University (SETU). Tipperary University Hospital aims to deliver high quality and equitable care for its patients, in a safe and secure environment and to achieve excellence in clinical practice, teaching, training and research.

Tipperary University Hospital has bi-directional patient flow with the Model 4 hospitals in the region, University Hospital Waterford and Cork University Hospital and with other specialist centres in Dublin.

It provides Shared Care programmes for those attending Paediatrics and Maternity Services outside the region. Mental Health Services are linked with St. Luke’s Hospital Kilkenny (IEGH) and University Hospital Limerick (Ennis, Co. Clare).

There is a strong multi-disciplinary team approach towards the patients care.

The person appointed to this post will work within the Acute Healthcare setting workings as part of multi-disciplinary teams delivering a coordinated approach to patient care.

The Oncology Day Ward of Tipperary University Hospital is a Satellite Service from University Hospital. Waterford

The service operates Monday to Friday only.

An Oncologist and team from UHW attend once a week. During this day

· An Out-Patient Clinic is held within the unit for new and review patients.

· Current Unit caseload and capacity is reviewed

· Team meeting is held for patients currently undergoing treatment but not attending clinic to enable clinical decisions for ongoing management

Role of the Staff Nurse in the Oncology Day Ward

• To be aware of the policies and practices set out by the Hospital and the Department of Health on safe administration of cytotoxic preparations.
• To work within a multidisciplinary team to ensure that patients receiving chemotherapy have continued access to specialist care, knowledge and expertise.
• The administration of prescribed cytotoxic chemotherapy to oncology patients via cannula, PICC, Hickman or Portacath.
• To administer chemotherapy in accordance with the protocols as set out by the Cancer Centre.
• To provide information about treatment and side-effects – giving written information as appropriate.
• To facilitate effective communication between the multidisciplinary team, the patient and their family.
• To engage with the National Cancer Information System (NCIS) to allow paperless records of episodes of care