Radiation oncology nurse pushes for better recognition of the job

Michelle Roach is a radiation oncology clinical nurse consultant, the first NSW has ever had. And she is passionate about 'rad-onc'.

She is passionate about, it seems, everything. “I’m a pain in the arse,” is how she describes it.

I would say she is a ‘doer’. Like the time she convinced the Australian College of Nursing to start a cancer education day at Liverpool Hospital after, as she puts it, “I got on my soapbox”.

Or like the time she approached eviQ – an online resource of cancer treatment tools – at a conference to bemoan the lack of specialist training for radiation oncology nurses.

Roach wants more recognition for her speciality, and education is a big part of that.

“I hove it,” she said of the job. “But people go, ‘who cares about rad-onc, all you do is dressing’. People don’t know what it is.”

Roach’s conversation with eviQ led to the development of RONKAS, or the Radiation Oncology Nursing Knowledge and Skills framework.

RONKAS aims to create an in-depth knowledge of radiation therapy, its side-effects, and its management during and after treatment.

Roach spoke with Nursing Review about RONKAS and why radiation nursing needs more recognition.

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