"My name is Maria Finch, I am a Clinical Nurse Specialist in the BMT team at Great Ormond Street Hospital. We look after children with both malignant and non-malignant haematological conditions, this includes children with immunology, metabolic, rheumatology and gastroenterology disorders. I have been in this role for 20 years and prior to this I worked as a Staff Nurse, initially on the Haem/Onc wards and then specialising more on the Immunology ward where I began to develop my interest in BMT. I am looking forward to becoming involved in the Paediatric Nurses Committee as I would like to help develop the academic and meeting programmes for fellow nurses as well as being able to meet and learn from others within the EBMT nursing network."
Paediatric Committee Activities
Sincere thanks for Hilda Mekelenkamp’s commitment over the past years as a chair of the paediatric committee. Ida Bremer Ophorst took over the position of paediatric committee chair. A warm welcome for our new member Maria Finch from the UK.
Last year was all about making personal contacts. Networking is so crucial to moving our beautiful profession forward. Looking beyond the boundaries of our own working environment. Marjola Gjergji, our committee member was invited to share her knowledge about skincare with nurses from China at the 2nd EBMT China Nursing Forum and has also been to India at the Asian Pacific BMT to give a talk about CAR T.
We had a successful Annual Meeting of the EBMT in Paris where in the paediatric session we focused on nutrition. We discussed our way of working and had presentations about “graft versus host diet” and what do child and parent prefer during the transplant process “a nasogastric tube or a gastrostomy?”
For the future we want to re connect with our colleagues in upcoming meetings and study days and making plans for the Annual Meeting in Glasgow 2024. Also, we intend to start with a Delphi study about conditioning-related skin toxicity in cooperation with Mihaela Hartman from Vienna, a nurse member of the EBMT who took the initiative to write a proposal.
If you would like to become involved in the activities of the group, or have any ideas for future projects, please contact us via the Paediatric Nurses committee mail: penuco3@gmail.com
