A day in the life of our 13 11 20 nurses

We are privileged to have an amazing team of experienced cancer nurses at Cancer Council SA, who are here to make sure no one has to go through cancer alone. Deb is one of our nurses and she tells us what a typical day looks like for them.

“Our team of 11 nurses have over 400 years of nursing experience combined! For all of us, working here at Cancer Council SA is not our only job. We all also work in clinical nursing roles ranging from working in chemo units, palliative care, research and screening.

Last year, we received more than 5,000 calls from South Australians reaching out for support. Many of our callers are those who are going through their own cancer diagnosis and treatment, but we also receive calls from family or friends too.

We can act as a sounding board for people who call us. They have the freedom to talk about anything without feeling as though they are burdening or upsetting their loved ones. While we can’t always solve their problems, we can always offer a listening ear.

We get calls about cancer impacting young families, supporting parents who are going through cancer and how to cope when a cancer diagnosis just comes out of nowhere.

“How do I manage how I’m feeling?”, “How do I tell people at work?”, “How do I tell my kids?”, are just some of the most common questions we hear each day.

It’s our job to provide informed, compassionate and evidence-based support. We also provide people with reliable information and referrals to the services we provide as well as other services out there in the community that can help.

Every day we feel so privileged to be alongside people as they go through their cancer experience.”

If you or someone you know is impacted by a cancer diagnosis, you can call our experienced cancer nurses on 13 11 20 from Monday to Friday, 9.00 am to 5.00 pm.