Living with
Haemophilia
Professional view
A Day in My Life - Cathy Benfield
Cathy shares with us a glimpse into her daily work as a haemophilia nurse
What is your role within the multi-disciplinary team?
As a nurse it is my role to help both the patients and their families come to terms with a diagnosis and to make sure that they manage to maintain as ‘normal as possible' lifestyle.
What are your day to day responsibilities?
We do a lot of community visits here at Alder Hey, both to the family home and to schools and nurseries etc. We cover quite a large geographical area including North Wales and the Isle of Man, so I tend to dedicate 2 mornings to home visits.
My colleague and I also run a weekly nurse led review clinic for those with a diagnosed bleeding disorders and this takes more or less a whole day.
The rest of the time is split between paperwork (boring!), chasing results, liaising with other healthcare professionals and of course being available for patients to drop in and dealing with urgent problems.
How long have you been doing the job?
I started in February 1997 but I have worked at Alder Hey since 1981. I work 3 days a week, which is as much as my colleagues can stand!
What first sparked your interest in haemophilia?
To be perfectly honest I applied for a post as a haematology clinic nurse because the hours suited my then young family and the role has just developed from there. I have found the work fascinating and extremely rewarding.
Can you describe a ‘typical day'?
Each day is different, depending on whether I am doing home visits or staying in the hospital. I much prefer the clinical side of the role, such as dealing directly with patients and their families as opposed to paperwork, writing up notes, dictating letters etc. Some days we teach either students or other health care professionals both from within the hospital and from outside, which can be interesting.
If there is to be an operation on one of our patients we liaise closely with the ward, laboratory and consultant haematologist, and of course the family, to ensure that there are no unexpected problems. We sometimes but not very often advise families during the evening and weekends, mostly via mobile phone.
There are always educational opportunities for us to maintain and develop our professional practice. This can mean going on courses, either for a day, few days or over months. We like to keep up with national and international meetings and try to present when we feel we have something interesting to share.
What is the greatest challenge in your job?
Without even thinking, I can answer that, venous access in chubby little people! I can't remember how many times I have struggled with a distraught baby or toddler, their parents and nursing staff, including myself, when venous access has been necessary and urgent.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Without a doubt, teaching parents and then the child to self infuse. This is such a great achievement for all the individuals involved and leads to much more independence in the management of their disorder. I particularly like to watch their confidence grow over the weeks and how good it makes them feel when they succeed.
