EBMT Meeting in Paris 2023

It gives us great pleasure to be able to support nurses in the field of bone marrow transplant care through our scholarships program, offered to dedicated nurses working in the field of haematology. Newcastle nurse Louisa Brown, BMT Clinical Nurse Consultant at the Calvary Mater Hospital in Newcastle, was granted the Sylvia Hartog Nursing Scholarship to attend the 49th Annual European Bone Marrow Transplant (EBMT) meeting in Paris.

Louisa returned from the conference in Paris inspired by her international colleagues, and hopes to bring the knowledge gained from the conference to her role at the Mater in Newcastle.

While the Mater does not offer bone marrow or stem cell transplants in Newcastle, they are a satellite service to the Westmead Transplant and Cellular Therapies Unit, allowing patients from the Hunter and New England to receive their pre- and post-transplant care closer to home. As a BMT Co-ordinator, Louisa works closely with the team of bone marrow transplant and long term follow up nurses to ensure well-coordinated and seamless transitions to and from transplant for these regional patients.

Attendance at this year’s EBMT conference in Paris was invaluable for Louisa. There she learned about how COVID has affected transplant practices for the long term, and also shared with her colleagues information on best practices for long-term post transplant follow up and care.

The COVID pandemic’s effect on transplant patients and practice

The impact of COVID in Australia was reasonably well-controlled, but globally the impacts of the pandemic were much greater. One issue faced globally, including in Australia, was the lengthy delays to transplantation due to the unavailability of suitable stem cells. This disruption to the supply of cells was due to several factors, the main two being:

• border closures and resulting supply chain logistics issues making the transportation of cells difficult, and
• a significant increase in donor unavailability due to medical reasons, largely COVID.

These factors highlight the need for an increased pool of donors locally, and the need to type potential haplo-identical (half-matched) donors as possible donors in the event of either stem cells not arriving from international unrelated donors or donors becoming unwell with COVID.

The role of nurses in post-BMT survivorship care

Having a bone marrow transplant can be life-saving, but it can also life-changing.

The EBMT meeting provided Louisa with opportunities to learn from not only other nurses and medical practitioners, but also from patients and psychologists as they discussed some of the long term quality of life issues that arise after bone marrow transplants, including increased anxiety and depression, fatigue, PTSD, and changes in libido and sexual function.

These issues can be long-lasting, and nurses in long-term follow up clinics like the one lead by Louisa at the Calvary Mater are in an ideal position to offer the expert care and support patients need.

Thank you to Arrow and the Hartog family

Louisa is thrilled to have been able to attend the EMBT with the support of Arrow and the Sylvia Hartog Nursing Award. She says, “Thank you for supporting my attendance at the 49th Annual European Bone Marrow Transplant (EBMT) meeting. It was a privilege to attend a conference in person rather than online and have the opportunity to interact with both international and local peers discussing all things blood and marrow transplant.”