The holistic approach to nursing people with cancer is vital and allows us to see the patient as a whole (mind, body and spirit) and not just the cancer/disease process.

That's according to CQUniversity Nursing student Lill Masters who has earned a Cancer Council Queensland ‘Alf Kretshmer Merit Award' for her essay on 'Caring for the person with cancer - a positive nursing experience'.

Lillian Masters

Lill is a mature-age student currently completing her third year of a Bachelor of Nursing degree after previous career experience in pharmacy and banking.

She's currently on clinical placement at Caloundra Hospital working in all domains of nursing in theatre, such as 'scrub', 'scout, 'anaesthetic' and 'recovery'.

"My previous placement was in Oncology at Noosa Hospital, which inspired my application for the ‘Alf Kretschmer Award'," she said.

Lill says she has had previous experience helping people with cancer.

"My grandmother suffered from bowel cancer with metastises when I was a teenager. My mother and I nursed her at home until the day before she passed away. During my placement in Oncology last year, I gained valuable insight into the lives of people suffering from cancer.

"Some people appear to take every day in their stride (what will be, will be), where others were clearly terrified of what was to become of them and their family. Living with cancer can be an extremely lonely, traumatic experience for some and to be part of this journey as their nurse is a privilege and honour.

"The human spirit never ceases to amaze me, with support, love and use of therapeutic touch; one can make a huge difference to a person with cancer. One experience comes to mind, a female patient having her first dose of chemotherapy, was clearly very anxious, I offered to hold her hand which she gladly accepted. During her infusion, the patient next to her commented on ‘what a lovely thing I had just done'. This was a humbling experience that makes you realise that small things do really make a difference to patients' experiences."

Lill has lived on the Sunshine Coast for 18 years and is happily married with two teenage girls. She's still deciding on her career specialty options.

"The areas of interest are Oncology, Intensive Care or Theatre, but I would have to say my real passion lies with Oncology. Ideally, I would like to incorporate both Theatre and Oncology, where I could nurse patients undergoing surgery for cancer and then follow through with their chemotherapy regime. Either way, I plan on future studies in 2013, after focusing on improving our finances next year working as a Registered Nurse and gaining valuable experience."

Lill still finds time to get involved with Noosa Campus activities. She was awarded as Mentor of the Year last year and is now Nursing Mentor Leader for Noosa. She is also a member of the International Golden Key Honours Society for high-achieving students.