We are proud to announce our first recipient for 2021 of the Professor Geoffrey Driscoll Scholarship in Haematology Nursing.

Frances Burns from Royal Melbourne Hospital will be furthering her knowledge in Bone and Marrow Transplants in Cancer Care through study at the Australian College of Nursing.

Ward 7B at the Royal Melbourne Hospital where Frances works is a busy ward, with 32 beds for allogeneic bone marrow transplant and haematology patients. Combined with the Peter McCallum Cancer Care Centre, the Royal Melbourne Hospital accounts for over 200 transplants in Australia each year.

Frances is a registered nurse having worked in cancer care and transplants for the past 5 years. She is keen to develop her knowledge in bone marrow transplants and share that information with her fellow colleagues. Frances says “I want to be able to assimilate what I learn from this course into my day to day clinical practice and educate others on the ward with the new information I gain. Bone marrow transplants can be such complex and intense procedures and I strive to deliver care that is expertly tailored and based on current best practice and guidelines”

The Nurse Unit Manager of Ward 7B Cameron Grant, supports Frances ambition to further her studies recognising her as a great asset to the ward and haematology nursing. Cameron says ” A leader in her field, Frances has always been willing to share her knowledge with her fellow colleagues and has supported them to be better nurses on our ward”.

We wish Frances all the best in her studies and look forward to Frances expanding her knowledge and those around her, for the better of all transplant patients.