A day in the life of Liz Purnell - Teenage Cancer Trust Lead Nurse at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Check out what Liz Purnell does in her role as Teenage Cancer Trust Lead Nurse at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

What does a typical day look like to you?
My day can vary depending on what our patients need. Sometimes I can be office-based, attending meetings which look at improving care for young people, or I could be meeting a patient in clinic or at home to see how they are getting on.

What led you to work in this role?
I am a paediatric nurse and I have worked across the UK, including working on Teenage Cancer Trust units in Leeds and Cambridge. I am passionate about improving services and support for young people with cancer so when this job came out, I had to apply for it. I’m also really lucky that this job came out at the right time for me.

In what way do you work alongside other staff or teams within SYB?
As we provide psychosocial support across the whole region, we often work with other teams across Doncaster, Rotherham, Barnsley, and Chesterfield to make sure that patients aged 13- 24 are receiving age-appropriate care. We have recently been invited to several hospitals across the region to speak about our role and what we do.  
We cover a diverse age range so we are often linking in with both paediatric and adult community teams, GPs and other professionals when required.

How has your role changed in the last couple of years?
During Covid, I was a ward manager at Sheffield Children’s, which gave me a lot of tools in dealing with fast-paced changes and implementing new practices. I have been able to utilise these skills in my new role. As I am only a year in post, I am still finding things that can be improved so our patients receive the best care and support. I think that I am quite a hands-on Lead Nurse as I still have direct patient contact and responsibilities.

What excites you most about your role? 
I like the challenges this role provides. The fact that each day can be so different and diverse is really exciting.
I like that I get to spend time with young people and hear what they would like in order to improve their care.

Are there any personal or team achievements or highlights you’re most proud of? 
There have been a lot of changes for the Team as I came into post. They are such a supportive and nurturing Team, which I think is such a massive asset. They are constantly looking for ways to improve our service, constantly thinking outside the box to ensure that Young people in our region are getting the support they need. We are currently looking at nurse-led end-of-treatment clinics, treatment summaries and new patient clinics as patients have told us this is something which they would feel would benefit them.

I have recently been elected as the Teenage and Young Adult Cancer (TYAC) Chair. TYAC is the UK's professional association for those who are involved in the treatment, care and support of teenagers and young adults with cancer.

In what way do patients or the public influence the work you do?
Patients massively influence the work we do; our service is driven by them. We offer Peer Support sessions for our Young People, and we use these events to ensure that their voice is heard in everything that we do.

Looking ahead, what do you hope to achieve in the future within your role?
With the recently released Service Specification for Teenagers and Young Adults, I think a lot of my time will be used to ensure that we are able to meet these standards across the region. I hope that over the next year, we can expand our team to ensure that all Young People across the region with cancer are fully supported. We are also developing new clinics for patients and looking at how we work with the Late Effects team.