Dawn Turner with dark long hair and a fringe in navy nurse's uniform

National Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Day 2024 today (Friday 15 March 2024). To mark the day we spoke with Dawn Turner who is a Rapid Diagnostic Centre Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist at Tameside Macmillan Unit, Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care Trust. 

Dawn Turner and family. Dawn holds her daughter on her hip and holding hands with her other child who is also holding hands with a man in RAF uniformDawn first started her CNS career journey as an associate CNS in 2019 and then entered her current role in 2021. Dawn shared with us her journey to this current role, what inspired her into a career in cancer and what the CNS role means to her.

Talk us through your career journey so far

I joined the RAF in 2003 to start my basic training (four months of being told what to do, up until silly hours ironing and polishing etc). In the June I ‘passed out’ which is a ceremonial parade to celebrate all we’d achieved. We then got posted to the University of Central England (now Birmingham City University) to start the same three year student nurse training as our NHS colleagues but in a very impractical white dress and shoe! We had the same access to NHS placements as the rest but during the long summer breaks we were asked to find a suitable military placement so we would spend long weeks in military medical centres seeing to many primary care duties as well as the slightly added pressure of responding to aircraft emergencies or sports/training injuries.

“It is a challenge in itself to get around the logistics of wound care on a noisy, dusty aircraft!”Dawn Turner in military uniform with a red cross on her arm

Once qualified I started life as a baby staff nurse on a 12 month rotation before settling on a very traditional (and well run) trauma and orthopaedic ward in Peterborough. I was deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 for four months as a aero-medical nurse flying enemies, foreign troops, civilians and our own forces across the country and back to the UK. This is a role that no one can prepare you for and it is a challenge in itself to get around the logistics of wound care on a noisy, dusty aircraft! Although I enjoyed the wards and spent two years at Peterborough, I wanted more military exposure so moved into primary care for the next few years until I left the RAF in 2015.

When I left the RAF we were living in Lincoln where the local hospice was rebound for first class care so I started to work bank shifts before picking up a senior staff nurse position. I worked as the Trust clinical educator for 12 months also where I could work across sites with hospice at home and day therapy teams as well as my beloved inpatient unit. Although my career has been very different, I have always been a ward/hospital-based nurse at heart. After another move within the UK but this time back home to be near family, I thought palliative care was where I wanted to remain, but hearing some of the patient experiences and being interested in the support side of cancer diagnosis, I then started to look into a cancer clinical nurse specialist (CNS) role.

What inspired you to pursue a career as a cancer clinical nurse specialist?

Hearing about some of the negative experiences patients experienced while going through a cancer diagnosis and through my own family experience of not having a dedicated CNS when my dad was diagnosed with a glioblastoma, made me want to make the difference for people. The passion within palliative care is very present and there is so much patient support, but where patients are in limbo waiting for results or in shock about their results was where I wanted to make a difference. I would look up to CNS’ during my career and be in awe of their specialist knowledge and reassurance for patients to think “they’ve got me, I feel better”. I started out with a fantastic team specialising in lung cancer during the time when we set up the lung cancer best timed pathway for our Trust. I feel like I have learnt so much as an associate CNS but when a role came up to set up a new service as the sole nurse but could make it my own I jumped at the opportunity and am very lucky to have been given the chance.

What unique qualities or skills do you believe are essential for the role of Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist?

You need to be able to juggle many plates so to speak, not flap easily and also be the calm in the storm for your patient and their loved ones. Accepting that I don’t always finish on time because a patient is in crisis is part and parcel of the job. I do feel also that compassion, going the extra mile and good communication are all attributes you must have. The specifics about the cancer investigations can be taught, a caring nature cannot. Looking back I would say my role in a warzone sitting for hours with mostly young lads, injured on an aircraft but feeling guilty about surviving has prepared me well for this role and although not-cancer related many nurses will have similar skills they apply within their specialty that would transfer into the cancer CNS world.

What ongoing professional development or continuous learning is available to you?

I have so many opportunities and funding available and our lead cancer nurse is a champion for us all wanting us to have the skills we know we need to perform our role well. I have recently become an independent nurse prescriber and have been given time to complete my masters in oncology. I am also given the support and guidance needed to ensure my own mental health is looked after with clinical supervision opportunities as well as psychology training. The new ACCEND program and the pilot aspiring CNS post offered at our Trust shows a real step in the right direction for those nervous about being a CNS with a clear program of support as well as highlighting a good progression pathway.

What does being a cancer CNS mean to you?

I’m so proud. When I get grateful feedback from patients on the phone this means every thing to me, knowing they’ve had the support I know my family didn’t have sums it up for me.

What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about a career as a Cancer CNS?

Come and shadow us! Give us a chance to show you what this role is and where you could fit in! Read up on the ACCEND programme to see what kind of competencies you would achieve and ask us questions!