Local McGrath Foundation nurses Jenny Macindoe, Giselle Ciavarella, and Georgina Molinari are at the forefront of breast cancer care at Peninsula Health, and there is a lot to celebrate.
The team in aubergine will mark 20 years of the McGrath Foundation this year, as well as Jenny’s 25th year as a breast care nurse (the last eight and a half of those with McGrath). Jenny was the first McGrath nurse to work out of Peninsula Health and now the service has expanded to a team of three.
“I’d like to say how thrilled I am to be working alongside Giselle and Georgina,” says Jenny.
“I’ve enjoyed working here and I enjoy the camaraderie and support of a team. For me, at this point in my career, having started and developed the McGrath Cancer Care Nurse Service at Peninsula Health, knowing the service is growing is extremely satisfying”.
The backgrounds of our breast care nurses
The team’s strength is not only in their passion but what they each bring to the role, with their different life experiences and medical journeys.
Georgina has been a breast cancer nurse for a year and is new to Peninsula Health. She began her nursing career in paediatrics, and then moved to Peter Mac a few years later. After working closely with breast cancer patients on the ward, she found she enjoyed building a relationship with patients and taking a holistic approach to care.
Giselle grew up in East Gippsland and discovered her calling during high school, doing work experience with the Community Women’s Health Nurse, who was one of the first McGrath Breast Care Nurses. Giselle recalls the geographical challenges for rural women required to travel to Melbourne for treatment, many of whom chose to have a mastectomy over breast conserving surgery because they couldn’t access radiotherapy. Giselle has now been a breast cancer nurse for 16 years.
Jenny is originally from rural NSW and also discovered her passion at a young age.
“One of my favourite teachers from my high school years was diagnosed with breast cancer, and while I was doing my training in Sydney, she came to Sydney for treatment,” she recalls.
“I went and visited her. She was a very inspirational person, and I remember at that point being quite taken by the experience of people with breast cancer and what they had to go through.”
This role is a privilege
Each of the nurses enjoy the privilege of not only providing care but being able to build relationships with their patients. With treatments and prognoses improving rapidly, those relationships are also becoming more long-term.
“Their treatments are so much more complex and there are many more options now than there used to be, so people are living a lot longer,” Jenny explains.
“We’ve got an ageing population on the Peninsula, so our numbers are going to increase and people need support for longer because the outcomes are so good now.”
While there is no doubt that the role has challenges, each of the McGrath nurses are quick to describe what makes a great day as a breast cancer nurse.
Giselle feels it’s a privilege to able to support a patient through the early stages of diagnosis, providing them with information and a clear plan of what’s going to happen next.
For Georgina, it’s being present in the room when a surgeon tells a patient that their surgery has been successful, or even better, when chemo treatment has been successful that the cancer is gone, even before the surgery. Even though those days are rare, Georgina says it reminds her why she does this job.
Jenny, whose role involves caring for advanced breast cancer patients, says her sense of satisfaction comes from being able to address a patient’s concerns, helping to make the patient feel heard.
“I have learned never to assume that you think you know what the patient needs,” says Jenny.
“To always listen to the patient, because what you think is going to be the most important thing often isn’t the most important thing from the patient’s perspective. It’s imperative to listen to the patient and just give them that time.”
Find out more about our Oncology Outpatients Services
An integral service for our community
With a combined 42 years of breast cancer nursing between them, Jenny, Giselle and Georgina provide a service that has become essential to the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula community.
“It’s lovely to know that there’s always going to be a breast care nurse service at Peninsula Health,” Jenny says.
“That is a huge achievement, and we need to thank Peninsula Health and The McGrath Foundation for supporting that.”