PRESS RELEASE Issue date: 28 April 2003

Thoracic nursing conference to profile growing demand for specialty

Nurses in thoracic surgery at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Trust are

    hosting one of the most comprehensive conferences ever to focus on the

    specialty.

Rebecca Myatt, Nurse Case Manager and one of the conference’s organisers,

    said: “Thoracic nursing is not a well known specialty, but it is an area of

    growing demand. For example, research suggests that asbestos-related lung

    conditions will peak in 2020, so we hope that this forum will help us to raise

    the specialty’s profile and encourage more nurses to consider a future career

    in this highly rewarding area.”

The conference programme has been designed to appeal to a range of

    nurses working not only in the specialities of cancer care and lung surgery,

    but also those who work on general medical wards where the management of

    chest drains often plays a key role in patient care.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ is one of the largest thoracic surgery services, with

    three of the country’s 33 specialist surgeons.

     - ends - Note to editors:

1. Contact: Kate Oake, Communications Manager, Guy’s and St Thomas’

    Hospital NHS Trust (tel: 020 7922 8120, e-mail:

    kate.oake@gstt.sthames.nhs.uk). Out of hours, please call the hospital

    switchboard on 020 7928 9292 and ask for the site nurse practitioner.

2. Guy’s and St Thomas’ provides ? million patient contacts in acute and

    specialist hospital services every year. As one of the biggest NHS Trusts

    in the UK, it employs over 6,700 staff. The Trust also works in partnership

    with the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing and Biomedical Sciences

    of Kings College London and other Higher Education Institutes to deliver

    high quality education and research. Web: www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk

    3. Changing face of thoracic nursing: Tuesday June 3, 9am – 4.30pm, th floor, Guy’s Tower, Guy’s Hospital. Cost ?40. Robens’ Suite, 29

? New investigational surgical techniques

    ? What’s current in thoracic surgery

    ? Management of pleural effusions

    ? Management of chest drains

    ? Mesothelioma – current management

    ? Surgical management of lung cancer

    ? Exploring the needs of patients undergoing lung cancer resection

    ? Improving information-giving and communication

    ? Nursing follow-up of patients post-surgery.

For more information about the conference, please contact Eileen

    Mcnamara on 020 7955 5000 ext 3223 or

    eileen.mcnamara@gstt.sthames.nhs.uk